As Time Goes By
by Fill-2-BURST
Summary: After 4 months of cheating from both Harry and Ron, Hermione is completely done and Ginny is a wreck. What sucks is that even though she knows what Harry's doing is unacceptable, she loves him too much to let him go. When she's taken just about as much as she can, guess who's there for her to pick up the pieces? Rated M to be safe. DracoXGinny ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey everybody! It's Jay again. Since the poll I had on my page has ended with the result for a Harry Potter story, here it is! Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Dramione fan, but I figured since Dramione would be the obvious choice for me, that I'd do this one instead. It's really just an experiment to see how this will turn out, considering I have no idea what exactly is going to take place in the story at the moment. Haha! :) Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I (unfortunately) do not own any of the Harry Potter characters.**

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Ginny's P.O.V

Ginny closed her eyes and counted to ten as she stood by the lake, surrounded by Ron, Harry, and Hermione. She let out air through her nose and tried to unclench her fists as she opened her eyes, finding Harry still glaring at her with that superior expression he always seemed to wear nowadays. "Look Ginny, I don't want to fight again," He told her, his words buzzing around in her head, while the challenge in his green eyes told her he wouldn't mind arguing that she was the one in the wrong. "But could you please stop trying to be the center of attention all of the time? I don't understand why you have to be so possessive." He finished, in a voice that was so patronizing and infuriating that she almost cursed him right then and there.

Hermione shared a look with her that said everything Ginny was feeling. One that agreed that Harry and Ron were both being prats. Neither of them could believe how much winning the war last year had gone to their heads. Ever since the four of them had come back to Hogwarts to finish their final year, the 'Golden Trio' had been crowded with admirers almost every single day. It had gotten to the point where Hermione and Ginny couldn't even study together anymore, and had made Quidditch practice practically unbearable when she and Harry were coming off the field. But even with the lack of quiet in the common room or the crowded benches in the Great Hall at meal times, the most maddening thing that had happened since coming back had been how the two boys had changed. Both being surrounded by girls almost all day and night had turned the two into a bunch of condescending pompous gits. The only time Ron ever spent with Hermione was when he was asking her to do his homework, and the only time Ginny ever saw Harry was when he had girls hanging all over him.

The worse thing about the situation was how the boys would react if either of the two girls called them out on it. After all, Hermione 'knew' that there was no possible way Ron could spend more time with her when he was swamped with 'homework'. And Ginny 'knew' Harry didn't have any say about how the girls behaved around him. It wasn't their fault after all, they had saved the wizarding world and earned a fan club, so they really shouldn't be so possessive and jealous when it came to their relationships.

Thinking about it almost made Ginny roll her eyes, but of course, she was too caught up in Harry's latest 'problem with the girls' to dwell on his previous matters enough to _want_ to roll her eyes. The only thing she wanted to do at the moment, was send Harry a bat-bogey hex so fierce it would wipe that supercilious smirk right off of his face.

The thing that had gotten the girls so upset this time, was coming down to the lake to find Harry and Ron, both with girls in their laps and a pair of tongues down their throats. The girls were just flustered enough to correctly assume that this wasn't a good time to be in the same area as Hermione and Ginny, and hastily gathered their things to run in the opposite direction. But the boys? The boys had the nerve to stand up and glare at them! And once Harry had finished scolding Ginny for being so 'possessive', with Ron nodding along to every word that came out of his mouth, Ginny had never felt more murderous or hurt in her life.

Ginny let out a shakier breath then the last time, and the tears that blurred her vision were so filled with emotion that she didn't know if they were from anger, hurt or a combination of the two. Because by this time, she finally realized that Harry just didn't care anymore about whether or not they stayed together. And despite all of the crap that he'd put her through over the past few months, the look in his eyes in that moment that told her he wouldn't stop, was the one that finally broke her.

Ginny looked at Harry through her tears, all of the fight gone out of her, all of the accusations gone from her lips, and the only thing that left her mouth was a heartbroken "Fine" that left Harry and Ron just as surprised as Hermione.

It was the triumphant smile on Harry's lips, and the expectant look on Ron's face that finally caused Hermione to snap.

"Don't you dare look at me like that, Ronald Weasley!" Hermione nearly shouted, causing most of the students around them to turn their heads. "Don't you dare look at me like you're going to get an apology, because you're not!" She stated.

Ron scowled at her furiously as the last of her words crossed her mouth. "Oh come off it Hermione -"

"No!" She howled, as everyone in hearing distance fell silent. "No I will not! I am sick and tired of taking a backseat in this relationship because you're too busy snogging every witch you set your eyes on. All you ever talk to me about is doing your homework for you. And for what? So you can shag the next girl who says that she's always loved the Great Ron Weasley?"

Ron's mouth fell open as Harry stared at her darkly. "We can talk about this later when you've stopped acting so childish and the whole school isn't watching, Hermione." Harry said quietly glancing at Ron to see him nodding with Harry in agreement, before the two of them started walking back to the Castle.

Ginny stayed quiet as she looked away from them with tears running down her face. Hermione saw them before Ginny turned away, and a new spark of fury was in her eyes when she turned back to look daggers at them both. "There won't be any need to talk about this later," She told them coldly, making Harry and Ron turn back around to look at her. She stared Ron in the eye. "Ron, we're done." She stated blackly.

"Sorry?" He questioned, confused.

"We're done," She told him again as if she were talking to a child. "I refuse to be in a relationship with someone as bigoted as you." She took Ginny's arm in her own and left them there gawking at her as they walked passed the other students back up to the castle.

Ginny didn't speak a word as they walked through the Entrance Hall and up the main staircase to the Heads' dormitory. Hermione spoke the password for her and they climbed through the portrait together to find the common room blissfully empty. They each sat on a couch one across from the other and were silent for a few moments before Hermione spoke.

"I never thought I'd actually do it," Hermione told her blankly. "It crossed my mind sometimes, but I never thought I would have to do it. I always thought things were going to go back to normal." Ginny could hear the break in her voice, though her face was void of emotion. Her expression was how Ginny felt on the inside. She felt empty. Raw. Utterly stretched to her breaking point, and then stretched even further.

 _'He doesn't care about me anymore.'_ Ginny thought despairingly. _'Oh god.'_

Ginny rested her head between her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs. She heard a small whimpering sound and couldn't figure out where it was coming from before she realized it was her. She let out sob after sob before she heard Hermione do the same. Neither of them knowing how long they sat there like that, just letting themselves cry out their grief together.

It hurt to breathe. Every breath was like a cut, a scrape, and a gash all together, that protested the life that no longer held any significance for her. Her entire body shook with the ache and throbbing of her cries. And the only thing that her heart pumped through her veins was a biting cold that slowly left her numb from the inside out.

After a while, their weeping ended, and they were left with a quiet so thick, it seemed to permeate the air.

They sat there as the moment grew longer, until Hermione took a couch pillow and climbed the staircase that led to Ginny's room, leaving Ginny alone in the stillness of the night.

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Draco's P.O.V

Draco stood in the corner by the stairwell that led to his room, half cast in shadow, looking at the Weaslette that still sat on the couch with a dead expression. Over the past few months, in all of the times he'd seen her with varying levels of emotion on her face (anger, fury and outrage to name a few), the heart-wrenching sadness he had seen while she'd been crying, had never been one of them.

Even Granger, who showed up from time to time even though she'd passed on the offer to be Head Girl to focus on her studies and relationship with Weasel, had never looked so devastated and vulnerable in his presence before. He wasn't entirely sure he enjoyed it.

Stepping out into the light of the room, he put his hands in his pockets and walked over, leaning over the couch and looking at her. "You missed McGonagall, Weaslette. She wants us to come up with an idea that will 'encourage house solidarity' or something or other." He told her adding his usual snarl to the effect. He waited for the usual insult or the threat of her hexing him, raising his eyebrows when they never came. "Yes I know, I thought it was ridiculous as well. What with us not being able to stand each other, why would she think it was a good idea to have us propose something? Of course it's not my fault," He goaded, trying to get a reaction out of her. "You're the one always acting like a control freak. Though I suppose since you're surrounded by a hundred different siblings you would feel the need to be the center of attention..."

He saw the anger in her eyes before he saw the wand.

"Oh yes because I always need to be the center of attention. I'm always the one in the wrong aren't I? It never has anything to do with the fact that you've been acting like a prat all year does it?" She held her wand up to his face as she came around the couch, backing him into a corner as he kept his expression neutral and his hands up. "Well you'll excuse me if I disagree with you. I'm sick and tired of you treating me like rubbish and blaming me for everything! Do you get off on pointing your finger at everyone but yourself?"

He could see the shaking in her wand, the tears in her eyes, and the amount of rage in her expression that wouldn't have been there if he'd said that insult on a normal day. And it clicked that what she was saying wasn't entirely being directed at him. _'For Merlin's sake Potter, what did you do?'_ He thought silently. He slowly inched himself toward her, careful not to make any sudden moves because he knew she'd actually curse him in the state she was in now.

"But no, I suppose it's impossible for you to be wrong isn't it? After all, you've spent your entire life thinking that you're right, why should it be any different now?" She asked him viciously.

The fact that he had managed to get so close to her without her noticing, proved that she wasn't really seeing him. And before she could come back to reality, he grabbed her wand hand and turned her around, holding her to his chest while he took her wand away from her and held her there. She flailed around trying to break free, but he held her arms together with his own.

"Let go of me!" She screamed as she almost pulled herself loose to physically hurt him. It made him all the more glad that he had managed to take her wand away.

"Weasley," He said, making her struggle more. "Weasley!" He called louder over her screaming, holding her tighter to him. "Calm down!"

"No! No, let go of me!" She yelled, a sob breaking through her words.

He hugged her to him, stopping her skirmishing as Blaise came through the portrait door to pause and look at the two of them in surprise. Draco only spared him a second's glance before he slowly lowered her to the floor, calmly hushing her crying as he went. "Shh, shh. It's okay." He told her gently as she sat there weeping in his arms. Zabini looked at him in confusion and he was silently grateful that he didn't say anything to stir her back up.

She turned her face in to his shoulder and he almost let her go in surprise as she clenched his shirt in her fist. Her red hair covered her head like a blanket and hid her face away from them as she sobbed continuously. Her weeping growing quieter as time went by, the grasp of her fist growing weaker, until there was nothing left but the quiet sounds of her breathing.

He let out a breath and relaxed his arms before he looked up at Zabini, who still stood there with his eyebrows raised in confusion.

"Give me a moment," Draco told him quietly before he cradled her in his arms and stood up. "Help me get her upstairs." He ordered him, taking her up the stairwell to her room, hearing Zabini coming up the stairs behind him, and opening the door as Draco waited. Both of them walked in to see Granger asleep on one side of the bed.

He walked her over to the mattress and set her down gently, bringing over a pillow and laying it under her head before pulling the blankets over her and walking out with Blaise right behind him.

"So what exactly was that about?" Zabini asked him as they walked down the stairs and back into the common room.

Draco sat on the couch, leaning his head against the back of it and groaning before he answered him. "No doubt it has something to do with Potter," He stated closing his eyes and feeling a weight shift on the other end of the couch as Zabini sat down. "Never seen her bawl her eyes out over anything other than him. And never like that."

"Okay, than what was up with you?" Zabini asked. The tone in his voice made Draco open his eyes to look at him, seeing him staring back with a slight smirk on his face.

"What are you on about?" He snapped.

Zabini snorted and gazed at him with mockery in his eyes. "Well you know, it's not every day that I walk in here to see you holding her in your arms, oh so gently,"

Draco glowered at him before he pulled out her wand to show him. "That's because," He said with his scowl still in place as Zabini's eyes landed on the wand and he blinked in shock. "I was trying to calm her down so she wouldn't jinx me." He finished, laying the wand on the table beside him. "Any other clever remarks?" He snarled.

Zabini held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

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Draco had just come through the portrait hole the next morning bringing in lunch when the two girls were making their way down the stairs. He quietly set the food down on the table by the fireplace and took some for himself before going to sit on the couch. He'd heard them up earlier, but neither of them had come down for breakfast.

They both sat down at the table and ate, none of them saying a word as they finished. After they were done, the girls gathered their things to go downstairs, and Draco caught Weasley before she could follow Granger out of the portrait. "Here." He said, handing her her wand. She paused before she took it and they both stood there in an awkward silence, only a step away from each other. "You okay now Weaslette?" He asked her softly, making her look up at him.

She stood there for a second longer before she turned away and climbed out the portrait, Draco's eyes following her until she was gone from his sight.

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 **End A/N: Okay that's it! Yay! I had no idea how this was going to turn out when I was writing it because I didn't have a plot in my head as I was typing. I really, really like it! I think I'm going to make another chapter to see what happens next because I'm super curious myself. Well I guess I'm done. Leave reviews to tell me what you thought and favorite if you liked it! It really helps me out a lot :) Bye!**


	2. Chapter 2

****A/N: Hey guys guess what? This is the first story I've done so far with more than one chapter. I'm proud of myself! :) Anyway, so thanks for the reviews! I think I got like twenty views in the first two hours that this story got published, and I was so excited I started immediately working on the next chapter. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it's more than my other stories got in the past two months combined, so you'll understand my excitement. I won't keep you waiting any longer though. Enjoy the story! :)****

 ** **Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Harry Potter.****

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Ginny's P.O.V

Ginny and Hermione exited the History of Magic classroom, walking down the corridor to go to the dungeons for double Potions.

It was still really awkward going to any class that Harry and Ron had with them ever since, because news of Ron and Hermione's break up had made it around the school during the past week. Most of the time when people saw either pair together, everyone either started muttering or went silent. What made it worse was the fact that Harry and Ginny, along with Hermione and Ron, had already been paired together as partners at the start of the year for most of their class projects. And now, even some of the teachers went quiet whenever they had to couple up.

"Do you want to skip?" Hermione asked her, her tone and expression miserable.

Ginny gasped in mock horror. "Hermione Granger, asking about skipping class? I think Hell just froze over." Hermione smirked slightly at her statement and continued to walk in silence as they headed down the stairs to the dungeons. Ginny's smile melted away and she sighed. "I'd love to. But McGonagall would kill me if the Head Girl ditched. Besides, I need the credit for my grades." She told her sullenly.

They entered the dungeon a few seconds after class began, taking their seats at either end of the room where they were sitting.

Professor Slughorn looked up at them as they took their seats and smiled widely. "Ah, Miss Weasley, Miss Granger, so glad you could make it!" He said coming around his desk to stand at the front of the classroom. "Now, since next week will be the start of winter break, the test on the Bloodroot potion will be taken next class. What we are going to be doing in preparation," He told them sitting on the edge of his desk. "Is reviewing and correcting the reports I had you do the other day." He waved his wand over the pile of parchment on the corner of his desk and sent them off to their respective owners, causing some students to let out a groan of distress at the grade they got.

"Come now, you all still have time to study and fix your mistakes," He chuckled. "Just focus on really doing the work and there won't be a problem. For those who received an Acceptable or higher on their report, go around the room and help those who need it."

Zabini, Malfoy and another Slytherin named Tracey Davis got up to help their house, while Hermione, Dean, Parvarti and Fay Dunbar helped the Gryffindors. Ginny looked around the room to see who managed to pass, and then looked back down at her paper to scowl at the D in the top corner, grateful to see Hermione walking over to her, looking at her paper curiously. "What did you get on your report?"

Ginny leaned her head against the back of her chair and groaned. "Dreadful. I got a Dreadful on my report Hermione!" She cried in despair, looking up at Hermione to see a frown on her face. "How am I supposed to pass the test on the potion when I can't even remember what comes after the essence of lavender?"

Hermione stared at her in astonishment. "How did you ever manage to become Head Girl?" She asked incredulously, causing Ginny to glare at her dangerously. Hermione laughed. "I'm joking! The first thing you should know, is that you need lavender extract, not essence of lavender."

Ginny frowned at her and sat up straight in her chair. "What's the difference?"

"Well one is natural and the other one is synthetic." She sat there and looked at her blankly for a few seconds before Hermione sighed. "Anyway, that means you got that wrong. And by the way, the next ingredients are two asphodel flowers, not rose oil." She told her before she got up and continued to walk around the room.

"Wait, where are you going? I still need help!" Ginny called out to her.

Hermione looked back and smiled kindly. "So does the rest of the class. Don't worry I'll make my way back around." She told her, causing Ginny to sigh and fall back against her chair once more.

She folded her arms and looked around the room for any other helpers before her eyes locked on Fay, who currently had her arm laid across Harry's shoulders while she was 'helping' him correct his work. Ginny's vision blurred for a moment before she looked away from them, bringing her elbows to the table and laying her head in her arms.

It was never going to stop being painful for her to see him with another girl, and every time she saw him with someone different, she felt his love for her grow weaker and weaker. She couldn't remember the last time the two of them sat together as he held her. She couldn't even remember the last time they walked together to class. All of her memories about Harry seemed to have been filled with him spending his time with every witch at Hogwarts except for her, and the thought made tears run down her face, into her shirt.

The thing that made everything so much harder, was the fact that even after the way he treated her, she still didn't want to let him go. If Harry left Ginny, it wouldn't matter to him because he wouldn't have to change how he was already acting. But it would be so much different for her. She had spent the better part of seven years trying to get him to see her, to be with her. She had spent the better part of seven years loving him when he hadn't even noticed. She didn't want to let him go now that they were finally together. She didn't want him to leave her. The very thought of it upset her more than him having girls hanging all over him ever would.

She wiped her eyes on her shirt as discreetly as she could before she brought her head back up, wishing she could be like Hermione and go to a class and immediately feel better. Since all of the Slytherins were currently busy, she was helping Pansy Parkinson with her report. Despite the fact the she was talking to her Slytherin enemy, she was grinning. And Ginny had almost forgotten what her actual smile looked like. She smiled a little herself as she glanced at her.

"Hey Weaslette, exactly how bad is your grade anyway?" Zabini asked snidely as he made his way to her table. She held in a moan and looked at him annoyed as he snatched her parchment off of the desk and looked over it, the smile on his face growing wider as his eyes made their way down the page. "This is too good! Hey Draco, come here!" He called, immediately resulting with her racing to get her report back. He held it out of her reach and she had to resist the urge to jinx him in front of Professor Slughorn.

She fell back down into her seat and pressed her face in her hands when Malfoy made it over to her table and plucked the assignment out of his grasp, looking at her nastily while Zabini grinned, and waited for him to give the report back to her. He frowned as he looked at the page, his frown deepening until he reached the end and looked at her. "You got almost every single answer in your report wrong." He stated sounding confused.

She snatched her parchment back from his hands and glowered at him darkly. "Yeah, so?"

He raised an eyebrow as he glanced between her and Zabini, and then back. "So it's pathetic." He said, so bluntly Zabini burst out laughing.

She hugged the piece of parchment to her chest and tried hard to look fierce as she felt her cheeks get hotter. "Well no one asked you!" Malfoy looked at her for a few moments longer before he shrugged his shoulders and walked away with a grin on his face. She sighed and looked down at her grade again in frustration, still not knowing how she managed to get it so wrong.

Dean had seen the look on her face some time during class and tried to help her out with her report. During the first couple of seconds he was with her, he smiled at her awkwardly, both of them recalling the time they were dating. But Dean got over the moment quickly before he turned his attention to the assignment, even though on occasion he did tend to flirt with her. For some of the answers she was able to get them right but had no idea how she'd done it, for others Dean wasn't able to explain very well. And before she could fully understand the effects of the potion, or how the ingredients helped, the lesson ended and he didn't have any more time to show her.

Walking into the Great hall for dinner with Hermione, Ginny glanced over at the Slytherin table to find Zabini sneering at her and she groaned. "I'm never going to be able to pass the potions test." She told Hermione hopelessly. She sat down at the Gryffindor table and started throwing food onto her plate glumly. "I don't even remember how many eel eyes we're supposed to put in the potion!" She exclaimed.

Hermione looked at her with pity in her eyes, and a sympathetic smile. "Ginny you don't put eel eyes into the potion, that's pufferfish eyes." Ginny looked at her in horror before she let out another groan, resting her head on the table, as Malfoy and Zabini appeared next to them.

"So, how is the blood-traitor and the mudblood doing, hmm?"

Ginny whipped around and held her wand at Zabini's throat, glaring at him viciously. She'd had absolutely enough of their insults to last her a lifetime, and she wasn't about to take anymore.

"Careful there Weaslette," Malfoy sneered. "Wouldn't want one of the teachers seeing how our Head Girl is behaving now would we?" He told her, smirking up at where Professor McGonagall was sitting, though she hadn't noticed the situation yet.

Ginny's wand shook as she clenched her teeth, holding back the anger she wanted to take out on them. She lowered her wand from Zabini's throat and glared at him. "Twenty points from Slytherin for disrespect." She stated coldly, loving how both of their eyes widened in outrage.

"You filthy little -"

"Let's make it thirty." She told Zabini viciously, cutting off his sentence and daring him with her eyes to continue. He closed his mouth and glared at her while Malfoy looked at her with his eyes slightly narrowed. She met his gaze for a moment before the memory of the other night betrayed her, and her gaze softened as she lowered her face to the ground. "Take him and go ferret." She said quietly, turning back to the Gryffindor table and sitting down.

Hermione waited until they had both left before turning to watch her carefully, and Ginny shifted uncomfortably, hoping she hadn't noticed her reaction. Ginny still had not told Hermione about what happened that night after she had gone to bed, when Malfoy held her in his arms as she cried and comforted her gently. Nor did she tell Hermione about the morning after when they had been alone and he had asked her if she was alright. To be frankly honest she was hoping she'd never have to. Besides, it wasn't like there was anything meant by it. He still acted like his usual obnoxious self after all, so what would be the point in having to relive the awkward memory? It was too weird to think about.

"What?" She snapped finally, turning to scowl at her, making Hermione laugh and shake her head. They both continued eating until Harry and Ron sat down across the table from them, the only place where there was any room left.

The air seemed to become tenser with every bite of food that was eaten, especially with Hermione and Ron completely ignoring each other. Ginny hesitated for a moment before she broke the uneasy silence. "Hi Harry."

He glanced up at her and then at Ron, both seeming perplexed for a moment that she was talking to him before he looked back at her and gave her a smile. "Hey Ginny."

The fact that he was smiling gave her courage to continue the conversation. "So how did you do on your assignment?" She asked.

Harry rolled his eyes at the thought. "Poor. Literally. I mean you'd think the potion would be a little bit easier to remember. What did you get?"

"Dreadful." Ginny said regretfully.

Ron balked at her. "You used to be great at potions! What happened?"

"I suppose it could have been my Head girl duties, they have been keeping me pretty . . ." Ginny trailed off as a couple of Ravenclaw girls came over and Harry moved out a little to let one sit on his lap. "Busy." She muttered, finishing off her sentence and looking away. As Harry started flirting with the girls, she pushed away her plate and grabbed her schoolbag to get up to leave.

"Are you going to finish that?" Ron asked her, while a girl ran her hands over his chest and Hermione glared at him.

"I'm not hungry." Ginny mumbled before leaving the Great Hall, even as Ron was scooping up her plate.

Walking up the stairs to the Heads' dormitory (and feeling like she'd been doing way more crying than she should be allowing herself to) she heard footsteps on the stairs behind her.

"Hey Weaslette!" Ginny quickly wiped the loathsome tears from her eyes and turned around to glower at Malfoy, who had stopped just a few steps down from her.

"What do you want Ferret?"

Malfoy smirked for a split second before it was wiped it from his face. "You took thirty points from my house." He pointed out while he walked a stair closer. She rolled her eyes and frowned. She didn't feel like talking to him at the moment, and instead of replying, continued walking up the stairs to the portrait.

"Password?" Asked the painting of a man in Shakespearian clothes, the white-frilled collar around his neck bobbing as he posed.

"Sidera supra." Malfoy interjected before Ginny could speak. She huffed as he brushed past her and entered the common room, not believing how much of a child he was. She stepped inside, intent on heading directly up the stairs to her room when Malfoy's next words stopped her. "So I saw Potter at the table . . . Loverboy's got quite the fan club these days hasn't he?" He said pointedly.

Ginny's steps slowed as pain shot up her chest and she glared at him. "It's none of your business." She grounded out, turning her back on him and heading for the stairs.

"Well I mean it doesn't make any sense to me that he would do that right in front of you. Then again, I always said Potter was just doing what he was doing to get the attention."

Her body froze as his words slowly got closer to her, his steps echoing off of the floor. She clenched her fists, seething inside. Every muscle in her body just aching to turn around and jinx him.

"Of course if I'm being completely honest, I never thought he'd be the type to blatantly go around snogging other girls right in front of the person he's currently dating. Figured he'd think everyone wouldn't like him very much if he did that." Ginny had to calm her breathing as his goading words reached her ears, her fingers twitching with the pain of wanting to grab her wand. "But I suppose you two could have broken up. You know I can never seem to tell these days. Your relationship just seems so . . . complicated."

She felt her face get hotter with her anger, and it felt like her entire body was on fire. She was too furious to think. Too mad at Harry for giving the horrid ferret so much material to hurt her. "After all, you wouldn't just let him get away with cheating on you directly in front of your face, would you? But maybe I'm wrong completely. Maybe the reason you're letting him do what he wants, is because you know that he just doesn't care about you anymore."

"BAUBILLIOUS!"

"Expelliarmus!" Malfoy said, deflecting the spell and knocking the bolt of destructive white light into the table, smashing it to pieces.

His face was blank as he watched her. Watched the tears roll down her face as she cried. Watched her being weak. And she hated him for it, despising herself even more for letting him get to her like this, for letting him break her.

Her wand fell to her side as she lowered her head and cried, both of them standing there until her sobbing lessened.

Footsteps echoed through the room, getting closer to her and stopping when she could see his shoes. The urge to back away claimed her before she felt his hands covering her cheeks, tenderly raising her face until her eyes met his gaze and he wiped away her tears with his thumbs, his expression softening. "You know, it isn't healthy for you to hold your feelings in, Weasley." He told her gently, turning around and fixing the table before facing her once more.

Ginny stood there in her confusion, not sure whether to yell at him, try to curse him again or ignore him completely and go to her room. But it was the thing he said next that really stumped her.

"Hey Weaslette? Let me tutor you."

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Draco's P.O.V

Draco looked at her puzzled expression and had to hold in a laugh. Honestly, it was priceless! But soon he could see the question forming in her head and he sighed inwardly, and then sighed out loud when he heard the question on her lips.

"Why do you think I would let you tutor me? Why do you want to tutor me?" She asked frowning at his sigh, but her confusion outweighed her anger.

Draco furrowed his eyebrows and rolled his eyes. "Because I'd rather not have McGonagall down my throat if she finds out how bad your grades are." He told her stubbornly.

Ginny's scowl deepened and her face grew dark. "Well I suppose that's too bad." She said turning on her heel and heading up stairs.

"Wait," Draco held her arm and turned her to face him, taking a step closer to her before she could hit the first stair. "I know you're struggling with this. I just . . ." His voice trailed off, not sure how to finish the sentence.

"Just what?" Ginny questioned, with an annoyed expression on her face.

What exactly did he offer to tutor her for? He knew he had planned to from the second she had left the Great hall. And if he was being completely truthful with himself, he had even planned to do so the moment he saw her horrible grade in class today. Although he couldn't come up with a reason why. He would say that he suggested it on a whim, which he had, but that wasn't going to fly with her. Draco looked at the irritated girl, noticing how her eyes had turned red from crying and frowned. He wasn't used to her crying so much, he'd rather have her angry at him and throwing out hexes than crying over Dung-for-brains downstairs.

"Oy!" She yelled at him, breaking him from his train of thought.

"Look," He started again, watching her patience running out. "We both know you haven't exactly been 'Miss Perfect' with potions recently -" Ginny scoffed and turned away, and he took hold of her wrist again. "All I'm saying," He said stopping her, making his voice gentler so she would listen. "Is that you know unless you ace this test that you'll fail this term. Now I get it, I'm a Slytherin. I'm Draco Malfoy, and I'm a ferret." He said, rolling his eyes while she smirked. "I put you through hell, I get it. But I'm also the one who's offering you a chance to pass this."

Ginny stood there looking at him, and he could tell that she was thinking about it. Could tell she knew she didn't have many options. But he could also tell that the thought of studying with him wasn't exactly on her top ten most wanted things for Christmas, especially after what he'd just pulled a few minutes ago. He understood her point, but it wasn't like he was messing with her just for the fun of it. He could tell that she was going to hold in her anger at Potter like she always did, and every time she did that, she suffered for it.

Draco saw her teetering on the edge of her decision, and he wasn't entirely sure she would agree to it. "Weasley," He muttered, making her look up at him. "Say yes . . ." He told her, his smirk unsure, a slight plea in the tone of his voice.

Ginny's eyes looked into his, untrusting. And then she let out a sigh and said,

"Okay."

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 ** **End A/N: Sooo . . . I guess that's the end of it . . . Aw! I thought that Draco was going to be in this more! :( Oh well, I suppose that he'll be in the next chapter? I'm out of the loop just as much as you guys. Speaking of, I want to thank everyone who read, followed or commented on the first chapter! You have no idea how much you made my day and helped me out. Every time I was stumped I'd see a new review or a follow and it inspired me to keep writing! You guys are my FAVORITE! So leave a review for the second chapter to tell me what you think, a favorite if you like it and a follow if you want more! Thanks guys, see you later. :D****


	3. Chapter 3

****A/N: So I was slower to get this chapter up, because I had a thing on Sunday that made me too tired to write anything on Monday, and a thing yesterday that lasted forever! Anyhoo, thanks so much for all of the support for the last chapter! You guys have no idea how much it helps me out with writing these. :) So without further adieu, the third chapter awaits! Enjoy!****

 ** **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or items in Harry Potter****

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Draco's P.O.V

"So than the ingredients are bloodroot extract, asphodel flowers, a griffin claw, valerian root, pufferfish eyes, Lavender extract annd . . ."

"Salamander blood and dried nettles. Come __on__ Weasley!"

Draco and the Weaslette were in the Heads' common room reviewing the ingredients for the bloodroot potion test on Wednesday. A process that was as slow as it was tedious, and Draco was losing his mind going over it all for the __seventh__ time that Sunday.

He looked down at the redhead sitting cross-legged on the couch and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "We haven't even gotten to the hard part yet, and you can't even get this down. Focus!"

"I'm trying!" She whined, looking up at him as a frown appeared on her face and her eyebrows scrunched up in frustration.

Draco sat down on the couch beside her and pulled the marble-topped coffee table with her notes closer, picking up a quill and dipping it in ink. "Look Slughorn may be a fat and nosy loudmouth, but if you can't get this he'd be right to fail you." He looked over and saw she looked about ready to hex him and rolled his eyes. Is that her solution to everything when it comes to him? "Don't give me that Weasley. Have you even read what would happen to you if you get this wrong? Besides the fact that the effects of it will be extremely painful, it could permanently disfigure you're skin." She looked over at him with a horrified expression and he felt satisfaction rise within him. "Yeah. Now memorize that." He told her, sliding over the list of ingredients he had written on a piece of parchment and standing up.

Weasley picked up the list of ingredients and looked at it for a minute before she put it back down on the table. "You know I just realized that we still have to work on that house solidarity thing that McGonagall wants us to do." Draco knew she saw the venomous look he gave her because she frowned. "Malfoy I know that this is important and I know I need to concentrate, but I can't think! Can we just take a break from it for a while?"

Draco rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed sigh before he sat back down and leaned against the couch, putting his feet on the table. "Fine. What did you have in mind?"

She turned sideways so she was facing him and he looked at her from the corner of his eyes. "Well I was thinking that maybe we could set up a couple of games after the winter break so that each house would have to work together to win."

Draco furrowed his eyebrows and turned his head to look at her. "How d'you figure that will work?"

"Well each house will compete against each other, which will influence a friendly house rivalry that will get the houses to . . . What?" Weasley broke off and asked at the look on his face.

"That is the dumbest idea I've ever heard." He told her bluntly. Seeing her angered expression he couldn't help thinking that it was her fault. That really was the worst idea to promote house unity he'd ever heard. How could she possibly think that what she suggested would help?

"Oh of course, because you're always right." She said sarcastically.

Draco looked at her, his irritation growing at her attitude. "Weasley there's already a "friendly house rivalry" game going on, between the Gryffindors and Slytherins and every other house at this school. It's called the competition for the house cup, and it doesn't exactly seem like it's making the houses like each other more." Ginny glared and looked away. "But . . . you might be on to something with the game idea." He said sitting up as a thought took form in his head and she looked at him with confusion. "Look, the way you had your idea is still terrible," She scowled and he grinned. "But I think I have a way to make it work."

He leaned towards the table and took a blank piece of parchment, writing down the name of each house in a separate category. "So you know how every house has a problem with each other? And not just the Slytherins and the Gryffindors."

"Yeah, the Ravenclaws all think everyone else is really dumb, and the Hufflepuffs think the other houses are super conceited." She observed, watching as he wrote a different word under each house.

"Exactly! So instead of pitting each of the houses against one another, so that way of thinking will grow, what if we put a student from every house in a group of four?" He suggested.

The redhead's eyes grew wider. "So they'd have to work together to win."

He grinned. "Right!"

She looked down and saw that he had written what each house was supposed to stand for and what each house thought of the other. "Okay, so what we're trying to do is get each of the students to bring their house quality to the group right?" Draco nodded and she held her hand out for the quill, moving closer to the table when he gave it to her. "So what if we made five different tasks? One to bring out each house trait, and one to bring out the qualities in each member?"

Draco furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Not sure I follow,"

"Come here real quick," She told him, coaxing him towards the parchment on the coffee table. "So you know how Gryffindors are brave, Slytherins are cunning, Hufflepuffs are loyal and Ravenclaws are smart?" She waited until he nodded before she started writing different tasks down on the parchment. "Well what if we had a task for each specific characteristic? One task that requires cleverness, loyalty and so on, and then one that brings out the very best quality in each person of the group, say determination or something. And the only way that each group could progress is meeting a different objective for each task." She sat there waiting for his answer with an excited smile on her face.

The idea wasn't half bad. Of course there were bound to be some groups that wouldn't make it passed the first task because of their stubbornness, but all in all, it seemed like it could work. He grinned and looked up at her. "Brilliant! Now we just have to come up with the tasks and get McGonagall on board."

The redhead beamed at their work and set it aside, standing up and moving to relax her tensed muscles.

As Weasley stretched, Draco couldn't help his eyes making their way to the flash of her skin that appeared when she lifted her arms above her head, raising the blue t-shirt she was wearing. His eyes skimmed over her unmarked skin, and he was just thinking about how soft it looked when she caught him staring.

"What?" She asked uncomfortably, tugging her shirt back down and looking at him.

He could feel his cheeks grow warm as he stood up. "Nothing. I'm going to get some food, do you want anything?" He asked quickly, already walking towards the portrait.

"I suppose." She said to him when he paused slightly to hear her answer, still fidgety. He nodded his head before he exited the common room and made his way down to the kitchens.

Draco still felt awkward at being caught staring as the elves handed him the food, so instead of immediately going back to the common room, he found an empty classroom and sat down in one of the chairs, laying his head against the back of it.

 _ _'Merlin that was embarrassing'__ he thought to himself, closing his eyes and sighing.

What the hell had he even been doing? It's not like he meant to look at her on purpose, but he had basically checked out a Gryffindor! An involuntary shudder ran through his body and he gagged. He should have known better! And not only had he been checking her out, he was always doing something so the Weaslette either wouldn't get upset, or could get whatever she was upset about out of her system. What had he been thinking? Why the __HELL__ should he even care? All she ever did was cause him trouble and give him attitude. Not to mention the amount of times she tried to curse him! Draco sat up and ran a frustrated hand through his hair, sighing again in irritation.

You know what? No.

He was a __guy.__ And yeah the redhead was from Gryffindor but she was still hot enough for him to be attracted to her. Especially after he had watched her tone her body up over the past few months trying to get Potter's attention, and he wasn't going to deny it!

Draco cringed at the way he tried to rationalize what he was doing.

The thought had never __once__ come into his mind to do what he was doing to get in her pants. He was doing what he was because no matter how infuriated she made him, the thought that Potter could hurt her so much and __get away with it__ infuriated him more. And if he happened to think she was attractive, fine! But that wasn't the main reason he was doing it.

He leaned forward and laid his face in his hands, groaning. The situation was so screwed up that it gave him a headache. What was he going to say to Blaise if he ever found out the reason behind what he was doing? And the thought of the rest of the school finding out made him sick . . .

 _ _'Screw it!'__ He thought aggressively. It wasn't any of their business, let them think what they wanted, he didn't give a rat's ass anyway. He huffed out an annoyed breath before grabbing the food and heading back upstairs.

* * *

Ginny's P.O.V

Ginny sat on the couch looking over the list of ingredients, a frown on her face as she tried to memorize them.

She had decided to put the image of Malfoy staring at her, out of her mind. It was way too weird to think about, and she wasn't entirely sure what to make of it anyway. What __could__ you make of the Slytherin checking out a known 'bloodtraitor'? A shiver of distaste ran down her spine and she had to refocus back on the parchment in front of her.

 _ _'So it goes Salamander blood, lavender extract, asphodel flowers, griffin claw, bloodroot extract, dried nettles, pufferfish eyes - no, wait . . .'__ Ginny's train of thought ended when she heard the sound of the portrait opening and closing and she stiffened, expecting to hear Malfoy come back over to the couch. She heard him go up the stairs before he returned after a few minutes.

"Hey Weaslette where's Draco?" Surprised at the voice, she turned around to see Zabini standing by the stairs to Malfoy's room, an annoyed expression on his face.

"He went downstairs to grab some food." She told him, still a bit too surprised to sound mean. Zabini let out a sigh of irritation before he came over and sat down on the couch furthest away from her.

Ginny went back to the ingredients, thinking it might be easier to write them down in the order she thought they went. Zabini snorted as she got the last one down. "What?" She asked, vexed.

"You're clueless that's what," He replied tersely. "In the second part of the potion, the first thing is pufferfish eyes, not bloodroot extract."

Ginny glanced down at the parchment and furrowed her eyebrows before looking back up at him. "No, the pufferfish eyes are the third ingredient."

Zabini just looked at her for a few minutes, making her feel more and more unsure of herself before he said anything. "You really are hopeless aren't you?" He asked her without expecting an answer, ignoring her look of outrage and scooting closer. "I suppose not completely hopeless since you have the first part right. But the second part goes pufferfish eyes, valerian root, dried nettles and __then__ bloodroot extract." He said as he crossed out her list and made another - in the correct order - for the second part of the potion.

"Okay," She tore her eyes from the paper, too focused to be angry, and tried to pull the ingredients from her memory. "Salamander blood, lavender extract, griffin claw . . ." Zabini tsked and snapped his fingers in front of her face, making her jump back.

"Oy! Instead of trying to memorize eight different things, how about you try separating them so it's easier?" He told her snidely, not saying it as a question, his patience worn thin.

"I never asked you to help me!" She said sharply.

He rolled his eyes and glared at her. "It's not my fault you're so pathetic. You __used__ to be good at potions, what the hell happened?"

"I don't know!" She said defensively.

"You were fine up until a few months ago." He pointed out.

"I. Don't. Know." Ginny told him again. But she was lying, she knew exactly what had happened. She'd started caring less about her grades around the same time that Harry was turning into a prat. So she focused more on him instead of her classes and managed to get herself so far behind, it was difficult to keep herself even at a _borderline_ passing grade.

"Yeah well, now you suck." Zabini stated plainly.

She stared at him darkly. "You know what Zabini? Ten points from Slytherin."

"For __WHAT?!__ " He exclaimed loudly. "For trying to __help__ you?!"

They both sat there and glared at each other for a minute, before Ginny sighed and looked away. "Okay fine, nevermind the stupid points." She mumbled.

Zabini rolled his eyes at her half-baked apology. "So? Repeat it back."

She kept saying the ingredients for the second part of the potion, starting over again whenever he said "wrong" until she got it right. Neither of them noticed Malfoy was there until he dropped the food on the table by the fireplace behind them, startling them both into looking up.

"It's about time you showed up, I've been waiting here for the past twenty minutes." Zabini told him, annoyed.

Draco stuck his hand in his pockets and looked at the two of them blankly, then raised an eyebrow. "What exactly are you two doing?"

"Having her suck me off, what's it look like we're doing?" Zabini asked sarcastically. Ginny's face went bright red and she punched Zabini in the stomach.

"You gross, crude, tactless barbarian!" She shouted at him in disgust before getting up and walking over to where the food was, while he sat on the couch holding his stomach and gasping for air.

Ginny took a bowl of mashed potatoes and sat down at the table, all the while casting glowering looks in Zabini's direction. Malfoy smirked in amusement at them before he grabbed some lamb chops and sat down at the chair opposite her. She picked up her spoon and carefully made a miniature volcano out of her potatoes, pouring the gravy on it ceremoniously so it looked like lava running down the sides, before she was satisfied with her work.

She looked up as she was about to dig in to see Malfoy looking at her with an eyebrow raised and an entertained smirk on his face, making her lower the spoon of potatoes slightly. "What?" She asked fiercely, trying to hide the blush on her face behind her words.

"Nothing." He said, still smiling.

Zabini's anger at Ginny disappeared from his face as he stared between the two of them for a while, standing up after a few seconds. "I'm out of here."

"What was it you wanted to talk to me about Blaise?"

"Forget about it." He told Malfoy, grabbing his stuff and turning to leave, before he walked back and whispered something in his ear.

Ginny watched curiously as Malfoy's confused expression went dark the longer he was listening, and he whipped his head away from Zabini, turning his face to glare at him blackly. "That has nothing to do with you __Zabini.__ " He told him, his voice as cold as ice.

Zabini stared at him blankly. "Fine." He said finally, backing away and leaving through the portrait.

Ginny watched Malfoy glare after him for a while before he turned back to eat and she looked quickly down at her food. Neither of them said a word for a few minutes and after awhile Ginny thought it best to just pretend she didn't see what had just happened. "So I think I got all of the ingredients down." She told him, trying to lighten the tension with a change of topic.

"What?" Malfoy snapped, making her close her mouth shut and look back to her potatoes.

"The Bloodroot potion . . . " She said quietly, slowly reshaping her potato volcano.

"Oh . . . Right, sorry. Well that's great." Malfoy said awkwardly.

"Yeah. So I was hoping . . . Well, maybe we could get started on how to make the potion now?" She saw him thinking about what she was saying before he spoke.

"No."

"What? Why not?" She asked frowning.

He plopped a spoonful of mashed potatoes on his plate before he answered her. "You don't even know the side effects of the potion. Read up on those first and then we can start on how to make it."

"But I did read about the effects of the potion." Ginny said, cringing at the whine in her voice. "It's a poison that's considered to be one of the most gruesome potions made. It slowly eats away at the skin causing pain and possible disfigurement."

Malfoy shook his head. "You're just repeating what I told you earlier. What else does it do?"

"Well it's one of the most complicated potions to make, and the side effects arrre . . ."

Malfoy looked at her pointedly, giving her a few more minutes to think before he rolled his eyes and sighed at her in disbelief. "Delusions and hysteria."

"I knew that." Ginny grumbled lamely.

"Weasley you aren't going to have enough time to think about this at your leisure. There's going to be too many questions on the test for you __not__ to get it immediately." Malfoy snapped.

"I know, I know!" Ginny huffed, putting her face in her hands. Like she needed to be reminded again about how bad she was at this? She sat like that for a while before she heard him sigh.

"I'll tell you what, how about we read over what the Bloodroot potion does a couple times and leave the rest for tomorrow?" He asked her, his voice gentler.

Ginny looked at his thoughtful expression as her face lit up and she grinned at him. "Sure!"

Malfoy smirked at her enthusiasm before his face was serious again. "But we have to do it tomorrow, the test is on Wednesday."

"Gross! Don't remind me." She said making him laugh.

They both finished their dinners and went over to the couch to continue studying, Ginny's smile never leaving her face.

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 ** **End A/N: First thing I wanted to say was YAY! I'm really happy to see that Draco got to be in this more! You know, if you couldn't tell. :) I was trying to get this in before midnight to keep it at a chapter every 3 days or so, but like I said, I was sort of slow to start the third chapter. Oh well. I do really love how the story is turning out and can't wait to see what's going to happen next! So thanks for taking the time to read this, and leave a fav if you liked it and a follow if you want more. Reviews help too (Of course)! Bye! :)****


	4. Chapter 4

****A/N: Okay guys, so I know that I took longer than usual to post this chapter. Last week I didn't feel up to it because I was exhausted, and then I had a bunch of homework to do and my beloved computer**** _ ** **broke****_ ** **on me . . . To say the least there were more than a few difficulties which made me upset. So I apologize about that. Good news is that I finally got around to writing the fourth chapter, although as I'm writing this I'm not exactly sure when it's going to be posted. You'll know when I do. With that said, enjoy the story!****

 ** **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter****

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Ginny's P.O.V

Ginny sat in Defense Against the Dark Arts taking notes on a Lethifold, a rare creature only found in the tropics. Or she would be if she wasn't doodling on the corner of her parchment, trying to distract herself from Harry passing notes to Fay Dunbar. He was making plans to meet her before lunch, she knew because he had asked her to give it to the girl and it opened a little to reveal what it said. She used the fact that she was taking notes on the lesson to prevent him from asking her to pass more letters along.

She wished Hermione was here so they could work together. Being around Hermione distracted her from Harry more than anything else, but she'd been removed from the class at the beginning of the term because she'd known everything they were going to do for their lessons already from beginning to end. Their new teacher was so delighted, he offered to make her his assistant. She accepted, but she only helped on Tuesdays and Fridays when Ginny didn't have the class.

Ginny looked over to a hufflepuff who was concentrating so hard on the lesson, he didn't even realized that he was drawing on his face with his quill. She smiled and wrote what he was doing on the bottom of her notes before ripping the piece from the rest, crumpling it into a ball and throwing it at him while the teacher wasn't looking. He scowled at her before his expression turned to confusion as she mimed for him to pick it up and read it. He smiled his thanks and did a quick spell to make it disappear.

When the teacher turned around as the class ended to give out the assignment, Ginny sighed, looking down to see barely any notes written on her parchment. As she left the classroom, Harry and Ron both behind her with girls on their arms, she made a mental note to sit away from Harry next class so she wouldn't get so distracted.

"Hey Weasley, over here!" Malfoy started walking towards them from the other side of the hall.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Ron snarled at him while Harry looked up and glared, both of them unwrapping the girls' arms from their own.

Malfoy narrowed his eyes at him. "I don't know where you get your inflated sense of importance __Weasel__ , but I wasn't actually talking to __you.__ " He sneered, before looking down at Ginny.

"What could you possibly have to say to her?" Ron asked him.

"What is it Malfoy?" She asked curiously as he ignored Ron's question.

"Meet me at the Slytherin table during lunch."

"Why?" She asked, blinking in confusion.

Malfoy rolled his eyes and looked at her. "Because I said so." He said in annoyance.

Ron and Harry rolled their own eyes and looked at Ginny in amusement, waiting for her to tell him to sod off. They both balked at her when she didn't. "Yeah fine whatever. But I'm not staying long, I'm meeting Hermione down by the lake since we both have a free period." She avoided looking at either one of them as she told Malfoy this, knowing that they were giving her looks behind her back, daring her to turn around.

"Cancel it." Malfoy ordered her. She opened her mouth to speak in protest and he looked at her pointedly. "Weasley. Cancel it." He told her again.

She knew what he was getting at, they were supposed to work on the Bloodroot potion today. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, knowing that she needed the tutoring but wishing she could just forget about it and focus on having a bit of fun. She nodded and he gave her a small smirk that she wasn't totally sure was hidden from the boys, before he was off.

Ginny ran her fingers through her hair as she watched him walk down the corridor and sighed, turning around to see them both standing there looking like they didn't know her, both of the girls were standing there with their hands on their hips and she squirmed uncomfortably before she started walking away. "You're blocking the doorway you know."

"What the hell was that about? And since when do you take orders from him?" Ron asked as they followed her down the hall.

"I wasn't taking orders from him." She said rolling her eyes. "I was just agreeing to his request . . . or, whatever." They looked at each other pointedly before they looked back to her. "What? He's still the Head Boy you two."

Harry looked at her blankly before he nodded for Ron to go on ahead. Fay stayed with him for a second longer before he smiled an okay to go, giving Ginny a distrustful look before she went. Harry turned back to Ginny taking a hold of her shoulder and pulling her aside to the wall, out of the way. "Ginny look, I know that he's tutoring you for potions." He told her quietly, lowering his head down to look at her.

"How did you-?"

"Doesn't matter." He interrupted. Ginny breathed deeply and looked away. "Ginny!" He exclaimed. "What are you doing? I mean I know that you're having a hard time with potions but . . ." Harry sighed, letting his sentence trail off as he turned and looked away. Ginny didn't understand why this was such a big deal. Yes she did realize that the idea of the two of them studying together seemed ridiculous, but it wasn't as if it was the end of the world. Harry looked back to her and took her hand in his and she felt butterflies fly up her body. "Listen I get that you're desperate. You need to pass this test I understand. . . But I don't get why you wouldn't just ask Hermione, or anyone else! You shouldn't feel so desperate that you had to go to Malfoy and ask him for his help. I mean I can't imagine how unpleasant that would be."

"He offered."

Harry looked at her for moment with a confused expression. "What do you mean, he offered?"

"I mean we were up in the Heads' common room the other day after dinner - arguing - and then he offered to tutor me." Ginny told him. What had happened in the Common room was more than a little argument like she had indicated it was, but she figured Harry didn't need to know she almost blasted Malfoy to pieces.

He looked at her for a moment longer before he finally realized what she said and narrowed his eyes. "Stop taking lessons from him." He told her flatly.

Ginny looked up at him and rolled her eyes. "Yeah like that's going to happen. You do understand that the test is in __two days__ , and this is the only way I'm going to pass it."

"So get another tutor!" Harry said angrily. "Ginny I know you need to pass Potions but you can work with anybody else at this school. Malfoy's up to something and the fact that he offered to tutor you should have clued you off about it, you can't stand each other."

"How is he up to something?" Ginny asked skeptically.

"Because he's Malfoy and he's __always__ up to something." Harry told her, talking as if he were speaking to a child, looking at her like she was just another dumb witch with a pretty face.

She frowned in irritation. This was stupid, what exactly would Malfoy be up to? Is Harry really trying to tell her that he'd offered to tutor because of some evil plot? __Hey I'm Malfoy, I'm evil, and I'm offering to tutor you so I can somehow rule the world__. That was so dumb. Harry was so obsessive about their little feud that it was pathetic. She turned her head and looked at the opposite wall. But you know, it wasn't so long ago that she would have been saying the exact same thing. As a matter of fact, she still caught herself looking in the mirror wondering what the hell she was doing. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked back to Harry. "Okay, so than what do you want me to do? Because it's isn't as though I really have much of a choice here."

Harry smiled in relief, taking her question as a yes that she would stop studying with Malfoy. "Well that's simple, Hermione could tutor you."

Ginny just stared at him. "Hermione doesn't have the time to tutor me Harry."

"Well than you could work with Fay, she -"

"Fay Dunbar?" Ginny asked him, not believing what was coming out of his mouth.

Harry smiled wider as the idea started forming in his mind. "Yeah, she'd be great! I mean she's absolutely terrific in potions. Of course she's not as good as Hermione, heh, who is? But she's almost as good. Of course you'd have to work around her schedule, she and I were going to meet up every day before lunch to hang out so you couldn't do it then. I'm sure she'll be nice enough to tutor you though, you definitely need it." He told her, adding on the last bit with condescending sympathy.

Ginny stayed silent as he went on, planning out exactly when Fay could tutor her, her face blank. She listened to him as he suggested a girl that he was currently planning to make out with, telling Ginny that he had planned to see her every day before lunch. Her ears were going numb to the things that he was saying, her body grew hot. How could he even suggest Fay tutor her, like there was absolutely nothing wrong with him cheating on her? She knew that she'd said she was fine with what he was doing, but hell even __Malfoy__ knew she was lying! Even Malfoy knew that she couldn't stand to see another girl in his arms, and here he was making plans to make out with her every day, right in front of her like Ginny didn't matter.

Tears started to well in her eyes. She knew Harry didn't care, knew he didn't love her anymore, but she hadn't known how little. She'd figured since he hadn't broken up with her yet that there was still a chance that he loved her, still a chance that he would come to his senses about this. But watching him stand there, listening to him go on and on about how great Fay was, she understood now. He truly and completely did not care about her any more, it crushed her and tore her apart all at once. Left her wanting to curl into a ball in her room and stay there, crying for weeks, while dealing with the agony and the weight of knowing he wouldn't love her, wouldn't even try.

So how pathetic was it that she still wasn't going to break up with him because at least she got the __title__ of being his girlfriend?

Of course she knew she didn't deserve this, knew that she could be with someone who actually loved her, but she couldn't break up with him. Even with all the crap Harry pulled, she still loved him. It was a sick and masochistic way of treating herself, but she didn't care, she'd always love him even when it hurt her more than him making out with other girls. Most of the time it did.

There was one difference this time though, and while Ginny knew she wouldn't break up with him in a million years, the pressure she felt in her chest right at that second wasn't all just because Harry was breaking her heart for another time, it was because she was downright furious now.

Of course she loved him, she'd always love him, but this was just enough. She'd dealt with his bull for months! Watching him run his hand up girls thighs, watching him kiss other witches right in front of her like it was nothing. She'd held her tongue these couple of weeks, she'd tried to act like she didn't care, like it didn't bother her. But this? Asking her to pass notes about a make-out session along? Standing there treating her like a child who wouldn't know it was being insulted? Standing there __smiling__ while he suggested she be tutored by a girl who knew he was in a relationship, and made plans to make out with him __anyway?__

Dammit no!

After all the crap she'd been put through, all of the crap he did to her, and he was going to stand there and treat this like it was a joke? Say that that girl could teach her and think she would go along with it because he was Harry __bloody__ Potter and she wouldn't care? Because she'd let him get away with it? Screw that! She may be allowing him to harm her emotionally whenever the hell he wanted because he felt like it, but when he asked her to be _friends_ and play _nice_ to the girls he was cheating on her with she was done! She drew the line at Fay Dunbar.

"To hell with that!" Ginny told him furiously.

Harry blinked in surprise and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Well I get that she isn't Hermione but –"

"What the hell do you think this is?" Ginny asked him angrily. "You think I'm going to be tutored by some girl you're snogging in a closest somewhere? You think I'm going to sit there and play nice with a girl you're cheating on me with?"

Harry's eyes flashed with anger for a brief second before he let his face go blank. "I thought you didn't care. You're the one who said you didn't." He stated, not putting any inflection into it.

Ginny gritted her teeth and dug her nails into her palm. "Oh I said I didn't care huh? I lied. Bite me!" Ginny growled out viciously. "Of course I'm going to care that you spend more of your time with other girls than me. Of course I'm going to care that you've lost any remote feelings for me that you don't even care when I cry myself to sleep at night. But I say I don't care and put up with it because I love you and I don't want to lose you, even if you don't love me anymore." She yelled at him, swiping away angrily at the tears that escaped her eyes, not wanting to cry, just wanting to be angry without crying like a pansy.

Harry's eyebrows furrowed at her words before he swallowed and let his face go blank again. "If this is your idea of putting up with it, you're doing a poor job."

Ginny's entire body flared to life with the amount of rage she felt at his words, her fingers twitching, aching to grab hold of her wand and curse him into oblivion. She felt her nails puncture the skin on her palms and she bit down hard on her tongue, stopping just before she tasted blood in her mouth. Her jaw was clenched and her words held a dangerous electricity in them as they left her mouth, her voice low and edged with cold. "It isn't my job to put up with it. It isn't my job to sit there and act happy while you act like a man-slut. And it sure isn't my job to be friendly to the girls you're cheating on me with. I may reluctantly go along with your bullshit," She said blackly, glaring up at him while his eyes were ringed with fury. "But you aren't going to stand there and tell me to play nice with all of your little whores."

Harry's expression flared with rage and he reached out his hand and grabbed her wrist, crushing it in his grip and slamming her up against the wall. She tried to use her other hand to shove him away as her breath was knocked out of her lungs, but he snatched that one too and held them both on the wall above her head. He lowered his head and kissed her aggressively and her body went ridged in her surprise. She felt his teeth bite into her lip and she hissed as pain shot through it.

"Ahh!" She yelled in pain as his nails dug into her wrists, his teeth dragging the blood from her lips.

He let go and glared at her while the coppery taste of blood flooded into her mouth. "You have to tolerate __my__ crap? You think I don't put up with any bullshit from you? All you do is nag and whine and cry. It's a pathetic embarrassment that I have to put up with all of the time. All of your yelling and self-pity is annoying, and you just don't seem to get that I'm not the only one who doesn't care." He snarled out, slamming her wrists against the wall again and making her cry out in pain. "You ever wondered why no one sticks up for you Ginny? Because you're pathetic! I've been snogging other girls for months and you don't do anything. You sit there and let me do whatever I want. And why? Because you __'love__ ' me? That's so fucking stupid!" He yelled at her.

She looked up at him, glaring to hide the fear behind her anger. Struggling to hide the shaking. He'd never been this way to her before. It terrified her. Merlin what was happening? Where was everyone? Why wasn't anybody coming to help her?

Harry narrowed his eyes at her and gritted his teeth. "You're a fucking liar you know that? You don't love me. The only reason you haven't broken up with me yet is because you're a selfish bitch. I could be with anyone and you know it so you play the 'I'm a victim' card. Oh boo hoo he's cheating on me. You don't even care!" He yelled at her, his expression growing colder and blacker the longer he spoke. "The only thing you care about it the fact that I'm the Chosen One and you have bragging rights because I'm your boyfriend. You get to walk around like I'm a fucking trophy saying 'hey look, I'm better than you because I have Harry Potter'. If you actually cared you wouldn't keep your mouth shut every time I ran my hand up another girl's leg." He scowled.

Ginny's anger grew the more he spoke, the fear she felt trickling away as it grew. Was he really going to make this entire situation about her? Was he really going to make it out like she was using him? How dare he! "That's a load of rubbish." She claimed.

" _ _SHUT UP!"__ He yelled at her, digging his nails harder into her wrists. She screamed and he muffled her cry with his lips, kissing her viciously and biting down on her swollen lip, rushing more blood into her mouth. When he pulled away, Ginny could see his lips were smeared with her blood. "I'm done. I'm done with your attitude and your acting and your games. You're going to stand there and tell me you love me when you don't? Really? And then, then you're going to do all this crap to me, embarrass me, use me, turn around and say you care when you're off with _fucking Malfoy?!_ " He slammed her into the wall again and she felt her head whack against the stones, felt the blood and the heat in her head, and the throbbing that all made her want to puke as her vision clouded.

She was tired, so tired from it all. She just wanted him to stop. Whatever she did to trigger this, whatever she did to set him off, she wanted to take it back and just keep her mouth shut. __Why?__ Why was he doing this?

"Harry . . . please, stop." She said weakly as tears poured down her face, her whole body aching from being slammed into the rocks. She cried out again as he clawed into her wrists. She felt warm liquid run down her arms and soak into her sweater.

"No. First you're going to agree to stop taking those stupid lessons from him." He ordered.

Ginny cried harder. "I can't, Harry please!" She begged.

His expression turned dark and he looked away from her for a brief moment before turning back. "Ginny when are you going to get it? As much as you've done, I'm trying to protect you here! He's Malfoy, you have to know that this isn't a good idea. Just get another tutor . . ." He waited for her reply, turning frustrated when she just cried. " _ _Dammit!__ Ginny I'm trying to help! Please!" He said desperately.

"Help me?" She asked weakly. She knew better, she knew she shouldn't provoke him, shouldn't set him off any more, but that was too much bull for her to swallow. "You have me pinned to a wall. You're hurting me. Don't act like you're doing this for my own good, don't act like you care."

His expression turned dark and he glowered at her. "Fine." He told her, letting her go and causing her to collapse to the floor. "Unlike you, I actually do care. I actually do love you Ginny." He told her softly, the anger and tension leaving his body. She almost laughed. "If you want me to show you that I love you, if that's what it takes to get you to stop using me and actually care about me, then I'll do it." He said quietly, turning away from her. "That's exactly what you'll get." He threw over his shoulder as he walked away, leaving her on the floor, wrapping her arms around herself and crying.

* * *

Draco's P.O.V

Draco sat by Blaise during lunch, his body turned towards the entrance to the Great hall, his hands folded and his eyebrows furrowed. Where the hell was she? It wasn't as if it took thirty minutes to get down to the Great hall. He had expected her to take maybe five minutes to sort out the problems Weasel and Scarhead were going to give her. Maybe ten if they were in a worse mood than usual. But Weasel had showed up with his fangirls over twenty minutes ago. Draco assumed she was still being yelled at by Potter since neither one came in with him, but that was before Potter showed up without her about ten minutes earlier. Draco lied an arm on the table and sat there waiting for her for a few more minutes, another ten minutes went by as he did.

"Draco would you stop with the finger tapping?"

Draco turned back to the table to find Blaise staring at him in irritation, he looked down to see his fingers tapping on the table rapidly and stopped. "Sorry." He said absentmindedly.

Blaise rolled his eyes as Draco turned back to look for Ginny. "You know this obsession is kind of ridiculous. You get that she probably ditched you right?"

Draco sighed in frustration before standing up. "You're probably right. For the love of Merlin if she wasn't going to come she shouldn't have told me she was going to." Draco said, directing his irritation at the absent redhead.

"Aw Draco's upset that he got stood up." Blaise taunted him.

Draco whacked him upside the head as he started walking out of the Great hall, heading down to the lake to see if she was with Granger like she told him she was going to do before. When he found neither of them there, he sighed. "Ugh, Weasley where are you?" He muttered to himself before making his way back up to the castle. He walked into the Great hall again and went over to Granger instead of the two idiots sitting across from her.

"Granger where's Weaslette?" He asked her, making her look up at him and narrow her eyes.

"Why do you care?" She asked him distrustfully.

Draco rolled his eyes at her. "Because I need to talk to her, why do you think? She told me she was going to be with you during your free period. Where is she?"

She furrowed her eyebrows in thought. "Now that you mention it, I haven't seen her in a while, I guess something came up then. Maybe go check the Heads' dormitory?" She suggested.

Draco nodded and took a step to leave, before Potter's voice stopped him. "I heard you're tutoring Ginny in potions Malfoy."

Draco spun to look at him and Potter's face took on a cold expression, Draco smirked at him. "Guess the secret's out then."

Weasel and Granger looked at the both of them in surprise. "I'm telling you right now Malfoy, quit tutoring her and let her find someone else." Potter told him quietly.

He narrowed his eyes at him. What kind of moron was he? Potter did realize that the potions test was in two days, and the redhead was __failing__ right? Besides it's not like there were a lot of people available for tutoring anyway, who exactly was she supposed to find? "Really? You're _telling_ me than? Well I have a question for you Scarhead, you know anybody with the schedule to tutor her two days before the test? Because I'm pretty sure everyone else is focused on themselves."

"It's not like you're the only person who could tutor her Malfoy. Hermione could tutor her." Weasel said snarkily.

"I'm too busy Ron. Don't just assume I have nothing to do but waste my time on you." Granger said haughtily.

"Oh so you'd rather my sister be tutored by __Malfoy?__ " Weasely retorted.

"Got a problem with me tutoring her? __Weasel?__ " Draco snapped at him. Honestly, he couldn't believe Granger hadn't broken up with him earlier.

"Yeah it's simple. We don't trust you." Potter said plainly.

Draco scowled at him. What the hell was so special about Potter that the Weaslette wouldn't just end it with him already? "What the bloody hell am I going to do Potter? If you really wanted to make a point, I suppose you could accuse me of giving her the wrong answers for the test. But I really don't need to do that, since all I had to do was leave her to flounder around by herself. She would have done fine failing the test on her own." Draco sneered.

"I don't like her having to hang around you more than she has too, what with your father being a Death Eater and all." Harry told him snidely.

Draco's eyes flashed and for a split second he contemplated cursing him, until he finally understood what this was about. He couldn't believe the same prat who walked around shagging every witch at this school _except_ for the redhead, had the nerve to be jealous. He almost cursed him on that alone, and that wasn't even _getting_ to what he said about his father.

"You know Potter, I think I can understand where you're coming from. After all you've been so busy entertaining other girls you must have realized the Weaslette's spending an awful lot of time with me. I don't blame you for feeling threatened." Draco said dangerously. It was way too much of an opening, he had to say it. "After all, you're right. You shouldn't trust me, because she's learning a lot more from me than anyone else can teach her. And believe me when I say that I'm teaching her _everything_ I know." He told them, allowing his implications to take their imaginations wherever it may. He smirked as both of their faces clouded over and had to hold in a laugh.

"Why you dirty little -"

"Oh and by the way Potter, twenty points from Gryffindor for disrespect to my father." Draco said snidely, cutting him off and leaving the Great hall with a smirk on his face.

He made his way up the stairs to the Heads' dormitory, stopping in front of the portrait to say the password before he went inside. He looked around the common room for her before he realized that she wasn't down there and sighed in annoyance, taking the stairs to his room to put his stuff away. He went back down to take the stairs to redhead's room, stopping outside her door to knock. "Hey Weaslette, you know I don't have to waste my time trying to tutor you if you aren't going to take this seriously. . . Hey! . . . Weasley you in there?" Draco opened the door and growled in irritation when he saw the room was empty.

Draco huffed out a frustrated breath and glared at nothing until he heard the sound of water running. He turned to the bathroom and walked over to the door. "Weasley! I know you can hear me, why didn't you show up? Do you want me to tutor you or not?" Draco stood there for a moment longer before he heard the sound of crying.

" . . . Go away," Said a soft voice.

He stood there for a few seconds frowning, wondering what could have happened. "Weasley?" He called gently, taking hold of the door handle as the crying continued. "I'm coming in." He told her, waiting a moment for her to say anything before he opened the door. He looked around the room, tracing the source of the crying to where she was curled up in a ball on the floor, a towel covering her head and back.

"Please . . . Just go," She begged, her voice breaking through her crying.

He stood there looking down at her for a moment, then turned off the sink faucet before he knelt in front of her. "Weaslette what happened?" He asked her gently. His eyes traveled over her as she stayed silent, and his expression turned to horror when they found their way to her wrists, where purple bruises made a circle around them both, and dried blood stained her arms. He pulled the towel from her head and lifted her head up gently, his mouth going dry as he saw her swollen lip.

"Malfoy leave me alone!" She yelled at him, pulling herself away. "Go away."

"Who did this to you?" Draco asked quietly, his voice blanketed in the horror he felt.

"Go away!" She cried.

"Weasley, __who did this to you?!__ " Draco asked her fiercely as anger bubbled up inside him and his hands unconsciously grabbed her shoulders.

She covered her mouth as a fresh wave of sobs caused her to tremble, and he pulled her to him while her crying became stronger and she wept into his chest.

His mind raced with the images he'd seen. He wanted to punch a wall. He wanted to curse the person who'd done this so badly that they couldn't walk. Hurt them so much that they couldn't speak. He felt like he could barely keep his body under control. Every muscle in him wanted to explode with his anger, and the thing that kept him restrained and made him angry the most, was how much she was crying. He could feel her shaking. Her body was cold and her grip on his shirt was so weak. . .

He closed his eyes to shut out the images, but the pictures just seemed more vivid. Merlin he felt sick . . . Everything in him screamed out how wrong this was. All he could do was hold her as tight as he could to try and keep her from flying apart, but __God,__ he felt so useless. He gritted his teeth as her crying went on, clenching his hand into a fist.

"Shh, you're safe." He told her, wanting to make her believe it, wanting to believe it himself. He wouldn't say that she was okay. He knew that she wasn't, inside her head or physically. She was so broken, and he didn't know how to put her together. He didn't even know where to begin. "Shh, shh . . ." He held her to him tighter, and she cried out in pain, making him whip his hands from her quickly. "I'm sorry!" He told her sincerely. She sat up slightly and he held her shoulders gently. "Weasley tell me who did this to you." He told her.

She sat there crying for a few seconds longer, trying to calm herself down enough to talk. "Harry." She said to him quietly, her voice hoarse from crying.

His entire body froze. "What?"

"H-Harry did this to m-me." She said to him again, covering her face as a fresh wave of tears came over her and her shoulders shook.

Draco felt his shock give way to a murderous rage that left him feeling like he was on fire. After everything he'd already done to her, and now this? His anger was tearing at him from the inside, and he wanted to go downstairs and curse him until there was nothing left. He reigned in his fury as much as he could before he took hold of her arm gently, taking out his wand and healing her as much as he could. It irritated him that he couldn't completely heal her properly, but he wasn't Madame Pomfrey, and he doubted that she wanted to go to her anyway. As he healed her other wrist she quieted down and became silent.

He could tell that the shock of the situation had finally gotten to her, and he silently cursed Potter's existence as he gently picked her up and carried her to her bed. Careful to adjust her position on the bed so the spots that were sore wouldn't make her feel uncomfortable. Then he brought the blankets over her and was on his way to go curse Potter.

"Stay!" She cried out, her hand gripping the back of his shirt. He gritted his teeth, wanting to make it so Potter couldn't walk for a month. "Please." She begged.

He paused before nodding and lying next to her on top of the blankets. She buried herself into his body and he wrapped an arm around her cautiously, and listened to her breathing until they evened out and she was asleep.

)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(

 ** **A/N: :O Okay first off, what the hell just happened?! That wasn't how I thought it was going to go at all! Damn. Oh well I guess. Anyway I hope you guys aren't feeling too murderous now that the chapter is over. I wanted to give you a nice long one since I haven't posted in a while, but I had no idea it was going to go in that direction. Um . . . Well . . . I guess that's it. I have to go process what just happened. So give a fav and a follow if you like it and want more, and leave reviews to tell me what you think! Thanks guys, see ya later . . . . . Man.****


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey guys. So there are a couple of things I wanted to say before the chapter, the first is how sorry I am for not posting in such a long time. It had gotten to a point in my life where everything was way too stressful with schoolwork, my health and trying to get this chapter done, that I completely dropped anything that I had to work to get finished and put it in the back of my mind so I could relax for a while. Not one of my better ideas and needless to say, now I'm super behind in everything I need to do. The second thing is that the last chapter completely threw off my rhythm because of how much it was** ** _not_** **supposed to go like that, and I ended up getting writers block every time I tried to rewrite this chapter. Again I apologize for how late this is. I'm not going to make a lot of excuses because there really aren't many that I consider all that important, but there you go. Anyway I've kept you waiting too long, on with the story!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story but the plot.**

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Draco's P.O.V

"What do you think you're doing?!"

Draco woke to a shout and groaned, moving to rub his eyes. His arms folded over a soft shape and he looked over, almost yelling in surprise himself when he saw Weasley lying next to him in his bed - until the rush of images from the night before flooded his mind.

"Malfoy I swear if you did anything to her I'll -"

Draco quickly and gently removed his arm from under the Redhead before rushing over to cover Granger's mouth and yanking her out of the room. He quietly closed the door shut before he said anything, turning around to glare at her. "Would you be quiet!" He whispered furiously.

Granger looked at him in confusion before knocking his hand away from her mouth, narrowing her eyes at him in suspicion. "Don't tell me to be quiet! What the hell were you doing in her room?"

He stood there and looked at her while his expression changed from irritation to something else, so much hidden in it that it looked like there was nothing at all, as every image and every word from the night before raced through his mind. Then all at once his expression turned black and his eyes held a fury so intense, Granger stepped back in fear. "Why don't you ask Harry Potter?" Draco snarled.

She looked at him in disgust. "I swear if you messed with her head just to prove a point to Harry -"

"Oh come on Granger, you're supposed to be the brightest witch of our age! Don't be stupid." He growled, straining to keep his voice down.

Granger looked at him, perplexed. "Then what-?"

"No," He spat cutting her off. "If you want an explanation, go in there and look. I'm not explaining it. But _don't_ wake her up."

Granger walked past him cautiously, opening the door and walking in while Draco waited outside.

He wasn't going to watch. If he saw her bruises again he was going to lose it, one way or another. A long sharp pain went through him and he forced himself to slow his breathing.

He didn't get it. He didn't understand. Everyone at Hogwarts, everyone _everywhere,_ worshiped Potter like he was a God. Let him get away with whatever he wanted, whatever he did, with a smile on their face. Even now, when he's done so much crap over the past few months, they still prance around with the excuse that he's the Chosen One, and part of the Golden Trio. He'd figured Potter would get an inflated ego, what with everyone lifting him up on a golden pedestal.

But this was too much.

This, was like killing a puppy that's never bitten you or done anything wrong _once_ , and in the meantime, everyone's cheering you on because you've done a few good deeds. This was like saying you did it because you could.

Draco didn't understand why he was allowed to get away with so much. He didn't understand why no one jumped to say 'that's wrong'. Why? Why didn't they?

No . . . never mind.

He didn't care anymore. He didn't care what excuse Potter, or anyone else, had, it would never be enough to justify what he did.

His back was to the wall when Granger came out, his eyes closed. He knew she was there, not saying anything, looking at him. He didn't see the expression on her face, wasn't sure if he wanted to, and for a moment they both stood there in the seconds of silence that followed until Draco finally opened his eyes and looked at her face. He took a deep breath when he saw the mixture of anger and horror on her face. "So . . . from the look on your face, I'm guessing this doesn't happen a lot." He asked her quietly.

Granger shook her head. "Never. Not as far as I -God, I'm going to be sick!" She put a hand over her mouth and closed her eyes, breathing deeply through her nose as she tried to get herself under control. Draco let out a shaky breath and closed his eyes. Granger's reaction showed that this wasn't something that Potter did all the time, at least it wasn't as bad as Draco thought it was. At least over the past few months, the Redhead wasn't coming back to the common room everyday, hiding bruises under her clothes from him so he wouldn't know it was normal. God, if this had turned out to be an everyday thing . . .

Draco opened his eyes and waited until she got her breathing under control before he said anything. "Granger, go to class." He told her.

She looked up at him with her eyebrows furrowed. "I'm not going to leave her alone."

"Not going to leave her alone? Or not going to leave her alone with me?" Granger pressed her lips tightly together and looked away. He scowled at her in anger, wanting to shake her. "I don't have time for this rubbish! What exactly is it do you think I'm going to do?" He hissed at her. "Beat her to a bloody pulp? Oh no, I'm sorry you're right, Potter already got to her on that one." Draco told her viciously, she glared at him in disgust and he closed his eyes and let out a tense breath. "I'm not the one you need to be questioning Granger."

She narrowed her eyes and sneered at him. "Oh yes, because you're totally trustworthy Malfoy. It's not as if you've been tormenting us, tormenting Ginny, for the past seven years of our -"

A pleading scream penetrated their ears and they both whipped around, Draco opening the door and rushing in to see Weasley thrashing around with the sheets tangled around her. They ran over together and Granger pulled the sheets from her flailing body while Draco moved to gently hold her down.

"Stop! Please, leave me alone. Please, _please!_ "

"Weasley, wake up. Wake up!" Draco yelled, shaking her roughly and waking her. She stared at him, her eyes glazed over with terror and panic, her body shaking, her breathing erratic . . . He gently took her face in his hands and ran his thumbs over her cheeks. "You're right here Weasley," He told her softly. "You're safe."

Her eyes regained some clarity and her breathing calmed a bit as his words ran over her. Her shaking hands held on to his arms weakly and her voice trembled as she spoke."Malfoy?" Tears shined in her eyes as she looked at him, and he took her arms gently and held her to him.

"He wouldn't let me go. I kept begging him and he didn't . . ." She spoke as she sat there in shock, her voice hoarse as the sentence trailed off.

"Shh. Don't worry, he isn't here. He isn't going to hurt you anymore." Draco told her softly, his tone of voice taking on a firm determination when he added, "I won't let him."

Granger looked at him curiously, her lips pressed tight together. Then she sat on the bed next to the Redhead and took one of her hands in her own, her expression changing to sadness. "I'm so sorry." She said quietly. "I wish I'd known."

The three of them sat like that for a while, and none of them said a word until Weasley seemed to come out of her shock and sat up. She slid herself off of the bed and walked into the middle of the room, wrapping her arms around her body and closing off the emotion in her face.

"I have to get ready for class . . ." She said quietly, her voice echoing in the silent room. After a moment, Draco swallowed and nodded his head, getting up to leave. His fingers softly trailed across her shoulders as he passed her, and he felt her flinch under his touch.

As Draco walked down the staircase to the common room, his entire body filled with anger. He knew Weasley was broken. Knew Potter had broken her . . . He was furious. Potter had crushed her past ruble, to the point where there was only dust left, and Draco wasn't sure if she'd be able to come back from that. It made him feel sick just thinking about it, and when Weasley walked downstairs with a dead look in her eyes he made up his mind. He wasn't sure if she would ever be completely healed, he knew something like that left more than just a physical scar. But getting her back on her feet was the first step, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to try his hardest to help.

* * *

Ginny's P.O.V

Ginny sat on a bench by the lake, ingredients strewn about on the table in front of her as she tried to memorize the order in which they needed to be put into the potion cauldron. Moste Potente Potions lay open to the page for the Bloodroot potion as she wrote down the second part of the directions, her red metallic quill firmly pressed between her fingers as she checked her work for the third time before writing it all down again on a different piece of parchment. She ran a hand through her hair as she wrote it all down, not letting herself look at the book for the answers as she repeatedly went over the instructions in her head.

It was close to dusk when she had come out onto the grounds to study. She'd sat in all of her classes that day without saying a word or looking at anyone, and making sure that Hermione never had the chance to ask her if she was okay. Most of the time she just let her mind wander over the potion to make sure she remembered everything and distracted herself from the reality of her situation. She didn't want to spend every moment of her day thinking about the terror of the night before. She didn't want to remember all of the hurtful things Harry had said and done. She wanted to go over the Bloodroot potion a million times so she passed the test tomorrow and never think about what happened again. It probably wasn't healthy for her to shove everything away to the back of her mind, keeping it locked up in a dark place that she would forget about after a while and throw away the key . . . But she didn't care.

She laid her head in her hand as she wrote down the part about crushing a Griffin claw and adding it to the potion. There really wasn't much more that Ginny could do to study. Night had fallen since she had first arrived here, and her entire time was spent memorizing every small detail about the potion she could. Unless she asked someone to study with her - which she was not about to do - she had learned all that she could for the night.

An image appeared in her head of the night before, when Malfoy had found her bruised on the floor of the bathroom and held her while she cried. Her eyes widened and she let out a short, sharp breath of air as she shakily laid her quill back on the table. She'd lost count of how many times he'd done that for her . . . held her while she cried over Harry. She couldn't remember how many times he comforted her. Ginny wasn't sure how it was supposed to make her feel. She supposed that she should've been grateful, it seemed like he spent most of his time looking after her these days. But at the same time, she resented herself for letting him pity her so much . . . for letting him give her charity. _'Was that really what he was doing?'_ Ginny asked herself silently. To someone who had seen their interactions over the last seven years, maybe that _was_ what he was doing. Comforting her because she was a pitiful pile of misery and he felt sorry for her. Unless Harry was right and Malfoy really was doing this for his own gain - not necessarily for some evil plot, just something he did so she owed him a favor later.

Ginny closed her eyes in pain at the thought of Harry and cursed herself. She was surprised how much the idea of him being right hurt her. It was like he could add another trophy to his shelf of ways he could make her miserable - ways he could win.

If it came down to it, she supposed she could end it. Her and Malfoy. But then again, what was there to end? Him tutoring her? He would be done with that starting tomorrow, and then things would probably be awkward in the days leading up to winter break. But once everyone came back, it would be the same old story again. The same routine of hating each other - pretending everything before the break never happened.

She let out an audible sigh before running her hands roughly over her face, suddenly becoming extremely irritated with the entire situation. Her fingers flexed and relaxed with a sudden wanting to flip the table and be done with everything. She closed the potions book sharply and snatched up all of the papers and ingredients strewn about on the table. The aching frustration and pain sending her body into an impulsive cyclone that was _this_ close to totally destroying everything.

Ginny stuffed her things back into her school bag and swung her legs over the bench, making her way up to the castle. Her frustration got in the way of her looking out for people - like she had all day whenever someone came walking around the corner - and she bumped directly into Harry. Harry steadied her so she wouldn't fall with a smile on his face, before he realized who she was and let go of her arms, his smile disappearing. She clenched her bag strap in her hand and took a step back, feeling like her heart was going to jump out of her chest. It scared her how easily he could make it look like he had nothing to be sorry for. It made her realize just how much he had changed since the war . . . How dangerous he could be. It terrified her.

Harry lifted an eyebrow. "What, no hello? No thank you?" He asked in irritation, phrasing it like an order.

"Thanks . . ." She said quietly, lowering her head and taking a smaller step backwards, hoping he wouldn't notice. He narrowed his eyes at her and she stopped breathing, not moving an inch as he took a step closer to her. He raised his hand and she shut her eyes tight and turned her head away, waiting for the pain. Something tickled her cheek and she flinched away from it, opening her eyes to see him pushing a piece of her hair behind her ear, his expression never betraying any thoughts he might have. He just stared at her blankly, making her feel like a fly caught in a spider's web. She grabbed her hair out of his hands and backed up. She couldn't deal with that, not after last night.

Harry's hand dropped to his side and he sneered at her. "You stop taking those lessons from Malfoy yet?" He asked her in a bored tone, his eyes flashing dangerously when she didn't say anything. "I asked you something Ginny." He said almost silently.

"It'd be pointless to keep taking them wouldn't it."

His eyebrows raised and he smiled at her. " _That's_ my girl! Trust me, you're better off without him." He told her as he came forward and placed his hands on her cheeks. It made her feel like something disgusting had invaded her, and she flinched under him, her body turning to stone as he leaned down and kissed her. When he leaned back he frowned at the fact that she gave no reaction, but disregarded it and took her hand in his. "Look, I know things haven't been that great between us. I've done a lot of thinking and I still want to make this work, but you have to try harder with this relationship." Ginny stood there while he talked, confusion and terror muffling the sound of his words as he spoke. "I mean I shouldn't be giving in to you because of how much you've done, and I'm telling you right now that I'm done being treated like a trophy . . . But I still love you Ginny. I'll even cut back on how many girls I hang out with, just for you."

Ginny looked at the smile on his face and tried to figure out what he said through the haze. ' _Is this a joke?_ ' She thought as she finally realized the meaning behind the words he uttered. "You're joking right?" Her mouth said, in sync with the anger she was suddenly feeling.

"I think it's pretty reasonable all things considered." He told her in his annoyance. "I mean I'm not going to stop completely until I know that you're actually done using me. But you should be happy I'm even considering taking you back after everything you've put me through."

"Everything _I . . ._?" Ginny said, trailing off as her outrage grew. She stepped away from him and scowled. "No! I'm not agreeing to that! I'm not going along with your stupid terms you self-centered egotistical conceited -" Harry glowered at her blackly and her words caught in her throat. Her breath left her as everything went black and dissolved into pain. Her wrists seared as she felt his nails puncture the skin. Blood ran down her arms, splattering on the ground.

She was about to yell in pain as she looked up at him - his blank stare sending chills down her body as he tilted his head to the side - and was stopped by what he said. "I can see you're wrists are better." He stated icily. She followed his gaze down to her wrists and saw that she had pulled them close to herself unconsciously. The blood running down them was no longer there, along with the pain she had felt so clearly a moment before. His hands were lying relaxed beside his body, still in the same place as a moment ago when she had backed away from him.

Ginny looked back up and his eyes followed her movement without moving his head. Ice formed throughout her body and stopped her from breathing. Even though he hadn't done it, she could see the black threat in his eyes, hear it in his voice. A threat so serious it left a phantom pain throughout every part of her body that had been harmed the day before. He didn't have to say a word for her to know he'd do it all over again, the implications were already there.

"I can only be so nice Ginny. And I'm only going to tell you once that I'm not going through your rubbish again. It just isn't going to happen. So stop trying." He told her darkly. He looked at her for a moment longer before he sighed and took a step towards her, taking her arm in his hand as she automatically took a step back from him. "Listen to me!" He told her in irritation, making her freeze at the tone in his voice. "I don't want to fight," He told her, his expression upset. "So would you please stop acting like this? I just want everything to go back to normal! Before the war happened last year and everything changed." She almost laughed, what she wouldn't give to make that happen. "Why did you change? What the hell did I do?" He asked her desperately. She could feel the irritation in her rising - how dare he ask her that after all he'd put her through? - but she closed her lips tight and looked away from him. He grabbed her other arm and shook her roughly, shocking her into looking up at him. "God, Ginny, do you even _care_?! What did I _do_?" He nearly yelled. She was alarmed to see tears in his eyes as his expression turned frantic. After a moment of silence he pulled her into a rough hug and laid his head on her shoulder.

' _He honestly thinks this is my fault_ ' she thought incredulously. She felt something wet on her shoulder and almost jumped back in surprise . . . He was _crying_. After everything he had put her through, all of the girls he'd shagged, all of the pain he'd dealt her physically and emotionally, and he had the _nerve_ to cry! Her eyes burned and she pushed him away, ' _No, I'm not crying because of him. He has no reason to be upset!_ ' She scolded herself angrily. He looked at her for a second longer before he turned his head away and continued to cry silently. ' _Dammit I'm_ not _crying!_ ' She thought again. A tear escaped and then she couldn't stop them from coming, no matter how many times she wiped them away. This wasn't fair! Why should she care that he was so upset? Why should she give a damn about how he felt at all? All of this was his fault . . . All of it was . . .

For a moment neither of them said a word as they both stood there and cried, and then Ginny couldn't take it anymore. It almost drove her insane how much he could get to her, even when he wasn't trying. And she was infuriated with the fact that she still loved him . . . After everything he did, how stupid could she be? Ginny stood there, angered by the fact that she still cared. Then she looked up at him . . . She knew it was a naive thought, but maybe both of them had just been misunderstanding each other from the start? What if coming back to school and trying to pretend that everything was still normal was a mistake? After everything that happened with the war, they were bound to be at least a little messed up, and neither of them took the time to consider if the other was okay. They both expected the other to be normal after everything they'd lost. . . . maybe it was just as much her fault as it was his. And no matter how much she wanted to deny it, she still loved him, and she probably always would.

Ginny took Harry's shirt in her own and pulled him over to her, her tears still running down her face as she buried her head into his chest. "I haven't been using you . . ." She said quietly. She felt him try to push her away and held on tighter. "Harry listen to me."

"No! I'm done." He told her, his anger replacing how upset he was and he swiped at his tears roughly.

She took his face in her hands. "I haven't been using you!" She told him firmly.

He looked at her, his expression distraught. "You're lying."

"No, I'm not." Ginny gently wiped away his tears, ignoring her own. "I'm sorry you've felt that way . . . I'm sorry about all of this. But that wasn't what I've been doing." Harry rolled his eyes and clamped his jaw tight. Ginny huffed. "Listen to me! Neither of us came away from the war perfect like we thought we did, and we treated everything like it was normal even though it wasn't. We didn't want to talk about the war, or what happened, or what we lost because of it . . ." He swallowed and looked down at her silently. "So we're both to blame for everything that's gone wrong between us, because we tried to pretend that we were both okay, and we're not. So I'm sorry."

"But the way you've been acting-"

"I haven't been acting like anything Harry." She insisted. Harry swallowed and his breath came out shaky.

"So what than? What are we doing now?"

"We do it over." Ginny told him, slightly unsure of herself.

"We just pretend that the past few months never happened. That's what you're saying." Harry told her, his voiced drenched in doubt.

"What I'm saying is, we start fresh." Ginny said, hoping none of the annoyance she felt had slipped into her words. "It'd be stupid to act like the stuff over the past four months never happened. So we don't pretend it never happened, we just get over it."

Harry looked at her like he was trying to decide if she was being serious, then nodded his head slowly, his face breaking out into a giant grin. He stepped forward and put his arms around Ginny's waist, picking her up and swinging her in a circle before putting her down again and kissing her. She slowly raised her hands to put them around his neck after getting over the shock of it, and kissed him back.

Ginny couldn't believe this was actually happening. Sure she'd hoped for it over and over again, but she was mostly just trying to stay optimistic. Her belief that they could actually fix their relationship had dwindled drastically over the past week. The only thing that had kept her sane had been hoping there was a chance.

No. That's not really true. She had already given up hope. It was Malfoy who had kept her sane. Malfoy and his tutoring sessions. Malfoy and his comforting.

Ginny stopped kissing Harry and stepped back. The euphoria she had felt lowered considerably at the thought that had entered her head.

 _'Malfoy and his bandaging me up and holding me last night after Harry had destroyed me,'_ was her thought. _'Harry who had hurt me while saying he still loved me.'_

Harry's smile left his face as confusion replaced it. "So, you really weren't using me then?" He asked her uncertainly.

Ginny shook her head. "No, Harry." Harry grinned and moved in to put his arms around her, frowning again when she took a step back. "Look I know we agreed on a fresh start," She began. "but that doesn't mean what you did yesterday was okay."

He dropped his hands to his sides and looked at her blankly. "I was angry."

"And?" Ginny said sarcastically.

"What do you want me to say Ginny?" Harry asked, irritation leaking into his voice, though his face remained blank. "You were studying with _Malfoy_. Of course I was going to be mad. Do you expect me to apologize for worrying about you?"

Ginny couldn't believe what she was hearing. She narrowed her eyes. "Is that what you call pinning me to a wall and bruising me? Making me bleed?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Oh please, it obviously wasn't that bad, you look fine."

"That's only because Malfoy healed me." Ginny burst out, angry. Harry's eyes flashed.

"I'm sorry?"

Ginny felt her temperature drop and she shifted, narrowing her eyes at him and trying to look cold so he wouldn't notice the fear. "Well what the bloody hell did you expect was going to happen? I was bruised, beaten, bleeding and crying on the floor. So yeah, he helped me out. Turns out the _Ferret does_ have a heart."

Harry glared at her and took a step forward, reaching out to grab her arm, she dodged his hand and took a couple more steps back. Harry growled. "You'd think you'd know better by now!" He shouted. "He's Draco Malfoy. He was a Death Eater! Do you _honestly_ think he actually cares about you?"

Ginny just looked at him. "You know maybe you're right," She told him. "Maybe he doesn't care about me."

"Thank you!" Harry stated, acting like she was finally coming to her senses.

She just looked at him and said. "But that just makes what happened even worse." He narrowed his eyes at her. "I mean, if Malfoy is that bad, and still has the decency to be concerned about me . . . what the hell does that say about you?"

Harry opened his mouth angrily and closed it again, looking away. Ginny picked up her school bag which had fallen to the floor and turned away. "Look I'm not going to take back what I said. If you want a fresh start you can have it. But that's only if you decide that you can be with me without hurting me."

"I was trying to protect you!" He shouted at her, annoyed.

Ginny looked back at him. "Then find another way to protect me." She told him flatly. Harry looked at her for a moment before sighing and running his hand through his hair. He nodded his head and she nodded once back to him before walking towards the grand staircase.

* * *

Draco's P.O.V

Draco was standing in the middle of the common room mentally bashing his head against the wall. Professor McGonagall, at the immediate moment, was threatening to give both him and the Redhead detention for skipping their evening classes last night. A threat that she promised she would carry out if he refused to tell her what they had decided was so much more important than maintaining their duties.

Draco was curious as to if any other teacher would have done this. The Head Girl and Boy getting detention would have been a joke on the part of every other teacher here, McGonagall is the only one he could be positive would carry it out.

He wondered if she would make the same threat knowing what had happened to Ginny yesterday.

"Professor, I know we shouldn't have skipped classes, but I promise you that it was for a good reason." Draco told her.

"Oh it was, was it?" She asked him with a smile. "Well then you shouldn't have a problem telling me what it was." Draco flinched.

"Actually Professor, I'd really rather not say at the moment." He told her. _'I'm definitely getting detention.'_ Draco thought with an inward groan.

"Is that so? Well then I suppose I'm going to have to take twenty points from Slytherin." She told him. "And twenty points from Gryffindor as well, unless you would like to tell me what was more important than your studies last evening Miss Weasley?" Draco looked around to see Weaslette coming through the portrait into the common room. "Shall it be twenty points from Gryffindor _and_ detention then?" McGonagall asked politely.

She looked between McGonagall and Draco, her mouth opening and closing, and panic in her eyes. He walked over to her and lightly put an arm around her shoulder. "Actually it was because we were working on the House Unity assignment you gave us." Draco told the Professor quickly. "We've been taking it quite seriously and wanted to make sure that it was perfect before we presented it to you."

McGonagall looked back over to him and narrowed her eyes. "Is that so? Then is there a reason why you couldn't tell me that before?"

Draco looked at the old bat and smiled. "Well I didn't want to present it without Weasley here. We were really looking forward to telling you about it together."

"Really?" McGonagall asked skeptically. Draco lightly squeezed the Redhead's shoulder, and she glanced up at him before looking back to McGonagall.

"Er yes, Professor." Draco almost groaned at how emotionless she sounded. "We just really thought that it would show how dedicated we both were to the assignment, if we showed it to you . . . together." The old bat looked suspiciously between the two of them. Weaslette took Draco's hand in her own, just to prove her point. Draco glanced down at her quickly before draping his arm more over her shoulder and pulling her closer after a second's pause, to stop himself from giving off a bigger reaction. It was stupid really. She was only holding onto his hand, they'd both slept in the same bed together before. This . . . this was nothing.

Professor McGonagall's eyes widened and she nodded her head. "Alright, let's hear it then." Draco opened his mouth to start telling the bat about the idea Weaslette had gotten a couple days ago when she squeezed his hand a bit harder and interrupted him.

"Actually Professor, to be honest I think the idea could use a little more work. Don't you, Draco?" He looked down at her and opened his mouth to say something, but he was shocked silent. "And what with finals tomorrow . . . I just think we could talk about it a bit more in depth over winter break. Wouldn't you agree Professor?"

He was almost positive she was holding in a laugh. "I am going to need to take twenty points from Gryffindor for missing class. Make sure you don't forget to talk to me during break." She told them.

"Of course. Good night Professor McGonagall." Ginny said to her as she retreated out of the portrait. She let out a sigh after it closed. "Thanks for covering for me."

It took Draco a second to realize she was talking to him, he nodded to her after he did, then rolled his eyes at himself. _'For the love of Merlin, you'd think she kissed me instead grabbing my hand the way I'm acting.'_ He thought to himself. He didn't acknowledge the fact that she called him by his first name, she'd done it before after all. Just because she was actually talking straight _to_ him this time didn't mean a thing . . . it wasn't as if she actually - _'God, don't even go down that road.'_ He scolded himself.

" . . . You aren't going to ask me how I'm feeling? If I'm okay?" She asked him.

Draco looked down at her. "I figured Granger asked you enough times for the both of us." He replied. The following silence started making the back of his neck itch, so he added. "How much studying did you get done today?"

"You're asking me about potions?" He shrugged, raising his wrist slightly, and they both looked down to see they were still holding hands. "Well don't. The test is tomorrow, and after that, there won't be any need to talk about it." She said pulling her hand out of his.

Won't be any need to talk to _him_ is what she meant. "Right then." He said flatly, walking around her to sit on the couch.

He sat there like that for a few moments, not turning around to look at her, just staring at the fire in the hearth. He heard movement behind him, but he was too busy sulking to say anything to her, even when she sat down on the couch beside him. _'Is that what I'm doing, sulking?'_ He thought, disgusted with himself.

"I bumped into Harry today."

Draco's head whipped around to look at her. He quickly and carefully took her face in his hands and started looking for bruises, then took her arms and ran his eyes down them. Looking for absolutely anything that shouldn't be there. A cut, or a scratch.

The Redhead took hold of his wrists and gently laid them over each other. "I'm fine, Malfoy. He didn't do anything to me."

"This time." Draco spit out dangerously. "When was this?"

"Just a bit ago. Before I came upstairs." She told him, shrugging her shoulders.

 _'How can she be so laid back about him?'_ Draco thought. He looked at her curiously. "What happened?"

She shrugged again and said. "We talked."

" . . . You talked?"

"Yes, Malfoy, we talked."

Draco stared at her. "Did he threaten you?" He asked her, his muscles already twitching. Already wanting him to go downstairs and curse Potter back to when he was a stupid baby.

"No. Well, not really. I mean we had a bit of a screaming match, but that's about it." She told him. He studied her closer and she looked away, making him narrow his eyes. She was such an open book. He knew she was holding something back from him. "Anyway it doesn't matter. We finally decided to talk about things and figured out that it was all just a big misunderstanding. So we're going to give it another shot."

He would've been less shocked if she jumped up and cursed him. "You what? What the bloody hell do you mean you're giving it another shot? Are you mental?!"

"Actually I think I'm quite alright, thanks for asking." She told him coldly. Draco got off of the couch and turned on her.

"You can't be serious Weasley!" He exclaimed. "Are you even listening to what you're saying?"

"I don't understand why you're getting so upset!" She yelled. "Why do you even care?"

Draco dug his nails into his fist. He wasn't going to yell anymore. She's always been a hothead, it wouldn't get him anywhere with her. "How about because I've been the one who has had to deal with you coming to the common room, for months, bawling your eyes out?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh, I'm sorry I've been such an inconvenience for you."

Was she serious right now? "Weasley, I'm trying, to look out for you." He told her, straining every word so she wouldn't misunderstand.

"Yeah, okay. Like I haven't heard that one before." She said sarcastically.

Draco turned around and kicked the coffee table four feet from where it was. He turned back to look at her shocked face and lifted his arms, giving her a bitter smile. "Apparently it doesn't matter what Potter does . . . He gets away with everything and _no one FUCKING cares!_ " He said angrily.

"Oh please, you're acting like a child." She spit out, standing up herself.

"I'm acting like a child?" He asked her in disbelief. "How thick could you get? He's Harry Potter! He's the same guy who's been making you come back crying every day for the past four months!"

Weaslette shook her head in disgust. "I swear you two are exactly the same. All you're missing is the scar." She said picking up her schoolbag and walking towards her staircase.

Draco had frozen at her words. And when he said "Yeah, me and Potter, bruising and beating girls for fun" It came out quiet and hollow. Weasley went completely still for a few seconds with her foot on the bottom step, before she turned around, her mouth hanging open slightly. "Hey do you know of any girls who deserve getting thrown around and kicked a couple of times? I was kind of hoping to step it up a level." He asked her while she started shaking her head slowly.

"I wasn't saying -"

"Yeah well you might as well have." He told her bluntly. _'Screw it . . .'_

Weaslette covered her mouth with her hands and looked at him in horror. "Malfoy, I-I didn't mean -"

"You know Weaslette, would you mind telling me how Potter held you against the wall? I really want to get it perfect so we can be like twins." He told her sweetly. He knew what he was saying was low, but God, he didn't care. . . He didn't fucking care anymore.

"Malfoy -" She started again taking a step towards him.

" _Don't._ " He hissed, finally letting some real emotion into his voice.

He didn't care.

"You know, I'll remember that I'm _exactly the same_ as Potter when you're bleeding and crying on the floor." He told her icily.

He didn't _care_ anymore.

"I'll remember that I'm _exactly the same_ as the _Chosen_ One, when you're asking me to stay in the room with you because you're too scared to fall asleep." He spit out viciously.

He didn't _fucking_ care!

"I'm sorry!" She bursted out.

"Right." He said to her coldly, turning to leave through the portrait. He felt a tug on the back of his shirt and swung back around to glare at her.

"Draco!" She said desperately. He froze and looked at her. Her lower lip was trembling and her words came out shaky. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it that way, I swear I didn't!" He could see the tears just behind her eyes threatening to fall . . . He wanted to brush them away and shake her at the same time. God . . . He wanted . . .

 _'Fuck it_ all _!'_ He thought, removing her hand from his shirt and swinging around to leave. The portrait closed shut behind him before she could say anything, and he was down the stairs faster then he thought was possible. He said the Slytherin password at the stone wall in the dungeons before zooming in and running up to the boy's dormitory, yanking the blankets off of Zabini and shoving him awake.

"What the hell Draco?" Blaise asked him, sounding annoyed and still half asleep.

Draco bit the inside of his cheek and ran his hand through his hair, turning his head away. Zabini looked at him for a second longer and frowned before grabbing his shoes and gesturing for them to go. They walked out onto the grounds and went a bit around the lake before Draco stopped and took out his wand, blasting a nearby boulder to dust and almost making Zabini jump out of his skin.

"Would you calm down before someone up at the castle sees us?!" He said, almost raising his voice himself. "Why are we here?"

She had said his _name_. His first fucking name to his face, without being sarcastic, or like an act, or an insult. Like she actually _cared_. He would've blown up something else if Zabini hadn't taken his wand. Blaise looked at him with concern when he didn't yell for it back. "Draco, what's going on?" He asked him.

"Potter fucking pinned her to a wall and bruised her until she was black and blue."

"Who?"

" _Weaslette_ , who else?" Draco said angrily. Zabini stayed quiet. "I walked into her bathroom and found her crying with a towel over her head to hide the bruises." Draco covered his face with his hand. "She was terrified." He told him shakily. "It took me an hour to heal her and calm her down enough to tell me what happened. She didn't even want me to leave the room when I put her in bed. She made me stay in bed with her the whole night." Draco started moving around to walk off some of the anger that was coming back. "And then she leaves this morning a complete wreck, and comes back to the common room to tell me that what happened over the past four months was a misunderstanding, and they're giving it another shot."

Zabini narrowed his eyes. "How thick can she get?" He asked.

"That's what I said! I brought up all the times that she came back crying because of him, and then . . " Draco swallowed and turned around to look at him. "then she stands there and tells me that I'm exactly like him." He said quietly. He smiled when he looked at Zabini's disbelieving face. "I know. I know. And you know what? I kept telling myself that I didn't care. And I'm about to leave, pissed as hell . . . And she stands there and says she's sorry with tears in her eyes, and all I'm thinking about is brushing them away, and . . . And what she said bothered me so much more than I thought it would . . . And . . ." Draco let out a shaky breath and collapsed on the ground, putting his head in his knees.

Zabini looked at him for a while before coming to join him, sitting down and watching him closely. After a long time just sitting there, Draco lifted his head and asked. "Do you remember a couple days ago when I came back to the Head's common room with food. Me and the Redhead took a break from studying to eat dinner, and you came over and told me not to get attached to her because my father was going to be pissed that I was crushing on a blood traitor?"

Zabini nodded. "Yeah."

"At the time I said it wasn't you're business, and, then, I could've just told you I _didn't_ have a crush on her. Even after four months of living with her. But now . . ." Draco looked up at him and Zabini's eyes widened at how lost Draco looked. "Merlin, I think I'm in love with her Blaise." He stared at him in shock, mouth hanging open but not saying a word. "What am I supposed to do?" Draco asked him, every word spoken voicing how lost he felt.

Zabini looked at him for a few seconds longer before sighing and closing his mouth, looking up at the night sky. Neither of them said another word for hours as they looked up at the sky before heading back up to the castle.

)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(

 **End A/N: Holy hell! I never expected him to say that in this chapter! I thought he was just going to dash over what he felt earlier and then think about it in later chapters! And also, Ginny irritates the** ** _crap_** **out of me right now. Well, there you go! I know that it took a decade for me to get this chapter up, and again I apologize for that. I've been writing like crazy over the past week trying to get this up before Christmas. I almost managed it . . . Not really haha. Anyway, hopefully the ending and how long it was satisfied how annoyed you all were? Meerh? You know at one point I thought this was going to be the last chapter, and I'm still not sure if it is or not. So I'm telling all of you, if you want me to continue it, let me know. Spam me with reviews and follows so I know to keep this going. Because as it is, I'm okay with letting this be the last chapter. If you don't mind either way, leave a favorite so I know it was good. I'll check back in a few days to see if enough people want me to keep this going. But if not, this has been an** ** _amazing_** **adventure with every single one of you, and I'm** ** _so_** **glad that you've all given me this experience with you and all of the support. Love you guys! See you later, and Merry Christmas! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey everyone! I'm sorry for taking almost a year for me to finally get this out, there were so many complications, and one time when I was working on this chapter, the story got deleted and I had to start all over :(. But anyway, it's here now. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters.**

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Ginny's P.O.V

Ginny sat in the Great Hall at the Gryffindor table next to Hermione, a bowl of cereal slowly becoming soggy in front of her as she watched the entrance. She was looking out for Malfoy, trying to catch him as he came in for breakfast so she could apologize to him. There was no way that she could leave things as they were. She knew she had screwed up last night, and she knew that she wasn't going to be able to fix things with just an "I'm sorry". She figured that is was going to take a lot of work to get him just to look at her, but she had to try.

She'd seen his expression. She'd seen the frustration he felt when she told him about Harry. That part wasn't hard to understand, especially after what Harry did. What was hard to understand was the pain she had seen flash across his face before he'd shut down and closed his emotions off from her. He looked like he was . . . she didn't know, but heartbroken came close.

It was weird, thinking that. And the one word held so much weight, she partly wished she hadn't thought of it. But that's what she'd seen, and she couldn't figure out why . . . Although, maybe it was just that she was afraid to find out.

It didn't really matter either way actually, whether she made sense of it, or was afraid or not. She'd made up her mind regardless as soon as he slipped away from her and walked out of the door. As soon as the emotion drained out of his voice and his expression. As soon as those stupid words left her mouth.

Telling him that he was exactly the same as the person who'd hurt her hadn't quite been her finest moment, and she'd regretted saying it the second the words had crossed her lips. She'd actually planned to apologize the next day, once her pride had decided to settle down a bit. But it was the hurt in his voice and the way he'd called her out so bluntly that made her see just how far she had gone. Almost all of her being despised herself for saying that to him. She only wished she, Hermione, Harry, Ron and the rest of them hadn't managed to leave the time turners in a never ending loop of falling during their fifth year.

Hermione glanced at Ginny and looked down at her cereal. "Ginny, you have to eat something." She said.

Ginny looked down at her food and her lips tightened. "I'm not hungry." She mumbled to her. Hermione looked at her sympathetically.

"I know you're nervous about the potions test, but you need the nutrients so you can think better." She told her friend. When Ginny furrowed her eyebrows and looked away, Hermione sighed and grabbed a granola bar. "At the very least eat this. It's better than not eating anything at all." She kept her hand held out until Ginny finally gave in and took it from her.

She wasn't hungry. The very thought of eating made her want to hurl, but Hermione didn't let her off the hook until she took a couple bites, finishing it off as Harry and Ron sat at the table across from them.

Harry glanced over at Ginny and clenched his jaw while she gazed at him warily, then he sat down and let out a deep breath before he relaxed. "Hi Ginny." He said, his voice still somewhat tense even though he was trying to sound casual.

Hermione's fingers froze while rifling through her schoolbag - probably looking for a book to read before going off to her Alchemy class - and her brown eyes stared icily at Harry. She looked over at the youngest of the Weasleys and received a very slight shake of the head, causing her to clench her jaw herself and narrow her eyes at him, lips closing shut.

Ginny should have known this was going to happen, how Hermione would feel. It was her fault for not telling her everything like she used to. Hermione didn't know that she had talked to Harry and they had resolved to try again. Of course, her friend might have reacted the same way Malfoy had. It wouldn't be surprising. But she had to reduce some of the tension somehow, she knew how this could go, and she didn't want this turning into a show for everyone at breakfast. "Hey Harry, what's up?" Ginny asked cautiously, turning back to him.

Harry glanced between the two of them before he shrugged his shoulders and sat down. "Nothing much I suppose. Just kind of waiting to get the potions exam over with." He revealed, trying to ignore what happened between the two girls as nonchalantly as he could.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I just want to fail the test and get it over with so I can move on with my life." She replied, marveling at how easy it was to fall back into their normal routine.

"How much did you manage to study?" He asked politely, the casual sweetness in his voice made Hermione murmur a low growl in her throat that Harry didn't hear, and Ginny's worry increased as she looked over at her.

"Not enough." She replied honestly. She put her hand on Hermione's curled fist underneath the table and she relaxed a bit. "Maybe just enough to not get another Dreadful, but I doubt I'll even manage an A." Ginny finished glumly.

Harry's eyebrows furrowed and he stared at her for a second longer. He didn't bring up the fact that she used to be good at potions, both of them just left it at that. She pondered to herself for a moment if he already knew the reason, and that was why he didn't bring it up. Maybe he felt guilty about it.

Ginny bit her lip when she realized she was silently hoping he did feel guilty. They both had agreed that they were going to try for a fresh start. Harry couldn't be the only one trying, she thought, she had to cut him at least a little bit of slack.

She took her hand back from Hermione's and glanced over again at the entrance for Malfoy, frowning in disappointment when she looked over at the Slytherin table and didn't see him there either.

"So, Hermione, how do you think Slughorn will test us?" Ron asked directly, and Ginny looked over in surprise at the fact that he was trying to start up a conversation with her that was somewhat civil.

Unfortunately for him, Hermione's eyes seemed to turn into slits at his question. "What?" She asked so coldly and dangerously that Ginny flinched away from her for a moment, forgetting that her anger wasn't directed at her.

Ron seemed to be trying to look normal, as if her animosity hadn't fazed him. Or else he really didn't get that she wanted to rip his throat out. "Well, I mean you know, if this potion is really all that dangerous, he wouldn't really have us making cauldrons full of it, would he?"

Hermione's mouth opened and closed as she stared at him, and part of Ginny thought that maybe she was trying to understand what he was saying, or why he assumed it was okay to talk to her. But the other part was just picturing her trying not to combust at the amount of anger she was feeling towards him. Ginny knew Hermione was angry - it was almost palpable, like she could see the waves that were emanating from her - but it looked like she was just too confused to actually go through with it, and was waiting just this side of the line of violence to see what he was up to.

"I'm sure he's taken precautions, he wouldn't just have us make an extremely dangerous potion without having the antidote set aside in case there was an accident." Hermione said slowly, still unsure of what to make of this rather polite conversation.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Still, I was kind of hoping that we would just end up with a written test." Ron muttered, looking straight at Hermione, a slight smile tugging at the side of his lips.

Apparently that was just about enough civility she could give to him, because she narrowed her eyes, picked her schoolbag off of the bench next to to her and said "Yeah well, if you fail that's your fault" before standing up and tapping Ginny's shoulder, turning to leave. Ginny raised her eyebrows at her and stood up too, picking her things off of the floor while Ron looked at the both of them, upset.

"Hey!" Ron yelled, sounding distressed. Hermione turned around and glared at him. "What's wrong? I'm trying to put things behind us."

"What's wrong?" Hermione repeated nastily. Ginny wrapped her hand around Hermione's wrist and tried to pull her away gently, a sign to just let it go, but she twisted around and wriggled out, making Ginny furrow her eyebrows in partial annoyance. "You are what's wrong! You and the egotistical, manipulative, self-centered prat sitting next to you!"

"Don't bring me into this!" Harry said indignantly.

"You shut your mouth!" She growled at him, making him stare at her in disbelief. Ron was looking at her, his face miserable.

"Hermione!" Ginny tried again, putting down her bag and tugging at her shirt a little harder to convey they needed to get going, Hermione shrugged it off again. Ginny's mouth closed as she took in a deep breath through her nose and let it out in a huff, a frown on her face. She had almost believed that they would both get out of there without an argument popping up. She glanced around and rolled her eyes in irritation when she saw that a couple people were starting to notice the spat.

"What is your deal? I didn't even do anything you bloody psychopath." Harry stated angrily.

"I could pull out an entire roll of parchment listing all of the things you did." Hermione hissed at him. "You're an ego driven bastard who thinks that he can get away with whatever he wants! Do you honestly think I'm going to let you get away with pushing her around? I am never going to forgive you for what you did."

The color in Harry's face drained and he looked as pale as a ghost. He looked around at the people watching what was happening and swallowed, then he looked at Ginny, his expression hurt. Ginny was too busy staring at Hermione in dawning horror to notice. Damn it! She should have known that this was where the topic was going to go. She should have remembered that Hermione hadn't known she and Harry had talked it out. _Damn it_ she should have told her!

She tried to yank on her shoulder and turn her around, trying to stop her from spilling what happened to the entire school, but she seemed to be too invested in being furious at Harry and Ron.

Ron looked at Hermione - anger finally making its way through his distress - and narrowed his eyes. "Would you stop already? Enough is enough. What goes on between Harry and Ginny is their business, and they've already sorted things out. Leave it alone."

"You don't know a _thing_ Ronald Weasley. You probably helped out. Or at the very least, didn't bother or care enough to stop it. Are you proud of what you two did to her?" Hermione spat out.

Ginny could see the storm cloud behind Harry's eyes getting bigger. ' _Oh no, this isn't happening._ ' She thought suddenly. She knew exactly where this was heading, and she had to swallow back her nausea. They needed to leave. She never should have let things get this far.

Harry got up and stepped close to Hermione, taking hold of her arm. It wasn't rough, yet, but it wasn't gentle either. "Be. Quiet. Hermione. You have no idea what you're even saying, and you have no idea what happened. Stay out of it." He ordered her softly, his voice holding an edge of menace. Ron climbed out from the bench and frowned at Harry's hold on her arm, although he didn't get in the way.

"You gonna come after me too Harry, is that it?" Hermione murmured, a challenging smirk crawling across her lips, although her eyes remained fierce with rage. Ginny could see that Hermione wanted him to try something, wanted him to go after her. She thought she could take him. Ginny's queasiness intensified while bile crept up her throat, her head swam and she had to take a step to balance herself. Taking a step further to put herself between them both.

The two of them looked down at her and she shook her head slightly (which was a bad idea by the way, as it made her sickness worse), and said as severely and as quietly as she could while still being able to be heard, "Stop. We aren't doing this here. We aren't doing this _at all_." When both of them continued glaring at each other, she turned and looked Harry squarely in the eyes, her displeasure seeping into her voice, and spoke steadily. "Let. Her. Go."

Harry looked daggers at Ginny for a few seconds before he took his hand from Hermione's arm. Ginny took their irritation and matched it with her own, her anger pushing away her nausea.

"Twenty points each from Gryffindor for both of your behavior." She spat out angrily. Harry and Hermione's eyes widened in turn, not believing that Ginny would take points away from her own house. "What happened between Harry and I, doesn't need to be said for the entire school. And I am _not_ going to let you two turn it into a spectacle for everyone to enjoy!" Ginny declared viciously. Hermione frowned at her, suddenly upset, but she didn't care. She was way too angry and appalled that they thought that doing this here was okay. "From now on, if you have something to say to each other that isn't about schoolwork, you will do so in private. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?"

All three of them looked at her with furrowed brows and upset expressions, and Hermione and Harry agreed.

"Well it's about damn time you stood up for yourself Weaslette." A voice that she recognized said behind her. She groaned inwardly and turned around to see Parkinson walking towards her, a smug expression on her face. "I mean honestly, I've been watching you for the better part of the year letting them walk all over you, it's nice to see a change."

Ginny tilted her head to the side, skeptical, and squinted her eyes at her. "First off, you shouldn't be eavesdropping on other people's conversations. And secondly, do you honestly have nothing better to do but sit around all year watching what goes on in my relationships?"

"First off," Pansy started in a somewhat mocking tone. "I didn't _have_ to eavesdrop, you were saying it loud enough for me to hear." Ginny closed her eyes and let out an annoyed breath, then turned around to send a glare Harry and Hermione's way. "And secondly," Pansy continued, making Ginny turn back around. "I don't sit around all year watching your relationships, I go about my business and just so happen to see some kind of drama going on from time to time. It isn't my fault your show is on twenty-four seven." She finished with a smirk.

"Are you done? Or should I begin deducting house points?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Easy Weaslette." She said while she raised her hands in a gesture of surrender, a smirk on her face.

"Parkinson, I'm only going to say this once, don't call me that." Ginny said in annoyance. She glanced behind her and saw that Harry and Ron were getting more irritated the longer she stayed over here, then looked back to Parkinson.

Pansy furrowed her eyebrows and frowned. "Well what else do you want me to call you? There's two of you Weasleys here. Don't you think that'll get a bit confusing?"

Ginny blinked at her curiously. "Pansy, you realize you could call her by her first name." Hermione suggested, an amused smile on her face. Ginny looked at her when she said Pansy.

"Nope." Parkinson said. "Too weird." Ginny silently agreed. "By the way Granger, you and me have a project due tomorrow for one of our classes that I want to work on before first period."

Harry, Ron and Ginny looked at Hermione in befuddlement, not knowing her to ever leave a project until the day before it was due. Hermione seemed baffled by this as well, she was looking at Parkinson with a puzzled expression. "No we don't." She said bluntly.

"Yes we do." Parkinson pressed, fixing Hermione with a stare Ginny didn't understand. "Remember?"

The three students watched Hermione's eyes light up with realization and grab her bag. "Oh! Right! Sorry Ginny, I completely forgot. Meet you in Potions?" She asked.

"Sure?" Ginny replied slowly, still confused, although Hermione was already walking away, Parkinson behind her. Ginny, Ron and Harry all looked at each other for a moment, making sure they weren't the only ones lost about what just happened.

A flash of blonde hair danced from the corner of her eyes, and she whipped her head towards the entrance hall, watching a tail of green and black disappear behind the door. She dashed back to the bench and reached for her school bag that must've gotten kicked under it when she dropped it while trying to pull Hermione away from the argument.

"What's the rush?" Ron asked her.

"Just remembered I have to work on the assignment McGonagall wanted done before winter break. Later!" She said hurriedly, snatching her bag and racing down the hall towards the direction she'd seen him go in.

She followed him - he was always just turning a corner when she thought she was catching up - through the courtyard and through an open archway, running down the hill towards the circle of stones and past it until she caught sight of him fully and put on an extra burst of speed. When she finally caught up to him, he was sitting on a table, his feet on the bench with Blaise right next to him. It was the table beside the lake and the giant tree where Harry, Ron, Hermione and her had their fight, it made her hesitate for a moment before she kept going. "Malfoy!" She called out. They both turned around and looked at her for a moment before Blaise narrowed his eyes at her and Malfoy's expression went blank. She was so focused on him, she didn't realize how close she was to the table and was only able to slow down enough that she wasn't at full speed when she hit it. She still managed to though. And it _hurt_. A _lot_.

Zabini's eyebrows shot up and he blinked a couple times as she let out a small yelp of pain.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" Draco asked her incredulously as she leaned against the table, one hand on it and the other holding her throbbing hip where it banged into the corner. She squinted her eyes shut tightly in pain and let out a huff of ragged air from her lungs, her eyes stinging as they started tearing up. "Are you okay?" He asked her after a second, a small twinge of concern leaking into his voice, Zabini was holding back an amused smile.

Ginny glanced at Blaise for a second and then back to Malfoy, ignoring the question - answering it meant having to focus on the pain - and getting straight to the point. "I know what I said yesterday was stupid, dumb, hurtful and insensitive -"

"You compared him to someone who abused you." Blaise shot at her with vehemence, smile gone, interrupting her and making her look at him and then at the ground in misery. She deserved it.

Malfoy shot him a dark look - Blaise looked at him in protest, before letting out a huff in submission - then he turned back to her, his expression stony. "I don't want to talk about this."

"Please, please just let me say this!" Ginny begged the both of them. He went silent and locked his jaw, and Blaise looked at her with unforgiving eyes.

"I know that it was a bigoted and ignorant thing to say, and I'm the worst person on the planet for _ever_ saying that to you." She continued. Her voice started getting thick and her throat started to hurt, and she couldn't tell if it was still from the pain or because she was upsetting herself with what she was saying, but she tried to fight through it and not break down. "You've been so helpful, and caring, and I shouldn't have said it. But I _swear_ I didn't mean it! And I _hate_ myself for hurting you." Ginny said, the last part being spit out of her mouth like a whip, directed at herself. Zabini blinked a couple times, part of his anger going with each one. "And I _hate_ myself for putting my stupid foot in my mouth, and for not thinking, and for being a terrible person to you." A frown appeared on Draco's face and his eyebrows furrowed. "You've been the sweetest person ever to me and I treated you like dirt. And I hate myself for it because I've really grown to not despise you, and - and I care about you a lot. And I _really_ want you to not hate me even though I deserve it because you're one of the best things that's happened to me in _forever_. And I- I just- " She couldn't even finish her sentence before her throat got so thick that she couldn't speak, her eyesight a blur. Her voice was a cracking mess and she loathed how she couldn't get through this without being such a screw up. "I'm sorry . . . I'm really _really_ sorry." She finally got out. It was the last thing she was able to say, which was a good thing because now she was a complete wreck, and could hardly get in a breath of air.

Malfoy looked at her for a moment longer before he looked away again. Blaise was staring at him with a question in his eyes, and Draco's sigh was the only reply he gave. He stepped down from the bench and walked over to her, with a frown on his face that made her eyes blur more and she looked away. He stopped right in front of her and waited for a few moments, but she couldn't look back up at him.

"Ginny." He said softly. Her sob and her breath both caught in her throat at her own name and she closed her eyes. She felt his hand gently lift up on her chin and she complied, her eyes still closed. Something soft pressed against one of her eyelids and it took her a second to realize he was kissing it, he kissed the other one before he wiped under them both gently, sweeping away something wet and cold. She should have realized she was crying, she had all of the signs. He placed his palms on her cheeks and she finally opened her eyes to see him looking at her with a suppressed sadness in his own. "Don't say you hate yourself . . ." He let his sentence trail off but left the implications of the next ones behind. She couldn't catch what words he was implying with it though.

The air in her lungs and her sobs caught again and she let out a shuddering breath afterwards. "Do you forgive me?" She asked, her words coming out quieter than she thought she'd made them.

". . . I don't know." He told her. His words were almost quieter than her own, and if he hadn't been so close she wouldn't have heard them. As it was, she did, and it made her more miserable than she was already, and her face fell towards the ground. He brought it back up gently.

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Draco's P.O.V

Draco didn't know what to do. Well, he knew what he _wanted_ to do. But that would cause way too many problems if he tried.

He looked at her face quietly. Her eyelashes had droplets of tears dangling through them like ornaments, and there were salty tracks drying on her cheeks.

He thought she had hiccups.

A small _hic_ escaped her lips as her breath caught again and he almost smiled.

Definitely had hiccups.

He thought maybe he was blowing all of this out of proportion, but then an image of the night before came into his head and a flash of pain and anger pounded through his chest. No, he wasn't. But maybe he could reign in his anger.

Draco tucked a strand of ginger hair behind her ear and turned around, taking a step away and sighing. He couldn't really give her a straight answer when all he wanted to do was kiss her. He realized now that that happened every time he saw her upset, and that was always the only thing running through his mind. And he sort of needed a clear mind right now. "We still have the project McGongall gave us that we have to get done, don't we?" He asked her, somewhat distracted.

"Yes." She told him quietly, guilt and misery hiding in her voice.

He turned around to look at her and cleared his expression. "Guess I'd be kind of a pansy to keep being mad for that long then." She looked at him for a moment and he let a small smile spread across his lips. She took a breath and rushed forward, putting her arms around his waist and hugging him while she buried her face in his chest. He slowly wrapped his arms around her shoulders, placing a hand on the back of her head and laying his head on hers as he hugged her back.

He caught a glance of Blaise out of the corner of his eye, looking towards the lake, and felt a bit guilty. He'd completely forgotten he was there, and Blaise wasn't really into the whole "emotions" thing.

He felt her shoulders jump a little as another hiccup went through her, and he smirked, pulling away from her gently and walking over to the table to grab his bag. He tapped Blaise's leg and he looked down at him. "You two done yet?" He asked, which was actually a lot more polite than the words he thought would come out of his mouth.

"Yeah. And I have a free period. So let's go." Draco told him, moving away and picking Ginny's bag off of the ground where it fell from her shoulder after she collided with the table. He cringed. It had _sounded_ painful.

He turned around to see Ginny still standing in the same place, her arms folded around herself and her long hair half covering her face. "Sorry Zabini." She spoke softly, and Draco had to pause for a moment before he realized that she didn't know how reserved Blaise was when it came to emotions, and she was probably still talking about what she said.

Blaise looked at her for a moment, his lips tight, then he grabbed his bag and got down from the table. "What do I care? You didn't say it to me." He told her plainly as he started walking up the hill. Ginny's eyebrows furrowed in the same moment that Draco's raised.

He slowed down to walk in pace with her. "That's his way of saying apology accepted." He told her quietly, a small smile pulling at his lips when her face brightened. "What's your schedule?" He questioned her, giving her back her bag.

She looked up at him and he saw it take a moment to register that he was talking about class. "I'm free. I have a free period I mean." She replied, taking it on the shoulder with the side that _wasn't_ hurt.

"Me and Blaise were going up to the common room, you gonna come?" He asked, giving her a moment to tell him she had other plans already. He was kind of expecting it to be honest, so he was pleasantly surprised when she nodded her head.

The three of them walked up to the castle and past the entrance hall, going up the stairs to the head's common room. Ginny said the password and headed up to her room to grab a couple books and bring them back down to study.

Draco walked over and joined Blaise on the couch. "You really forgiving her for that?" Zabini asked.

Draco glanced at him and then looked up at the ceiling. "Did you hear her apology? I'd be more of a prick than I usually am if I didn't." He answered.

"WHAT ARE YOU _DOING_?!"

Draco and Blaise's heads both whipped around toward the staircase where they heard Ginny scream. Draco got up and shot up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and stopped himself just before he crashed into Ginny, who slammed the door behind her as she came out. "Are you okay? What happened, who's in there?" He asked her, the words rushing out of his mouth as he tried to carefully push past her. Ginny put both of her hands on his chest firmly and held him there.

"Nothing! No one, it was just Hermione." She said quickly. Draco's breathing calmed as he realized what she was saying, but his chest was throbbing and felt like fire where her hands touched him. He looked at her for a moment longer and a slow but strong blush started creeping up her throat and across her face, making her look like a cherry. He stared at her suspiciously, narrowing his eyes.

"So then what happened? What did she do?" He asked her.

"Nothing! I was just surprised was all." She answered, her blush deepening.

He looked at her for a moment longer before the thought came to him that maybe he didn't want to know. "You had me worried." He told her.

Her eyes softened and she swallowed, her hands dropping from his chest. "I'm fine, promise."

Draco looked at her for a second longer before he nodded. "Are you gonna -?"

"Be down in a sec." She answered before he finished. He nodded again before scratching the side of his head and turning around, heading back downstairs. Blaise was standing at the bottom.

"Everything okay?" He asked.

Draco rolled his eyes at the fact that he didn't even get to to the first stair. "Yeah. True hero." He added on snidely as he walked past.

"You had it handled." Blaise replied with a shrug. Draco gave a snort that was half laughter and half just disbelief. They both sat back on the couch facing each other just as Ginny came down. She walked over and sat right in the middle of them, putting her feet up on the coffee table and laying her head on the back of the couch as she closed her eyes.

"Too close." Blaise stated, nudging her side with his foot.

"Ah!" She yelped loudly, putting her hands on her side and putting her feet on the floor as she crunched into a ball.

Draco scowled at him and Blaise flinched and leaned towards her, his elbows on his knees. "Sorry, forgot it was this side." He apologized sheepishly.

"You okay?" Draco asked, placing a hand gently on her back.

Ginny sat back up but kept her hands on her side, her eyes shining as she gave them a "Fine." Her voice a little bit higher than usual. She let out a breath and closed her eyes again.

After a moment of sitting there frowning, Draco said. "Here." He moved off of the couch and knelt beside her, taking out his wand and gingerly lifting up her shirt. He cringed when he saw it - it was about a fourth of the way to her ribs and already starting to bruise. He said a spell to heal it and the bruise slowly disappeared, the pained expression on her face going with it.

"Thanks." She said in a breathy voice, an appreciative smile appearing on her lips.

"Yeah." He said back after a moment. He stood up and took his seat back on the couch. "Well what do you want to do? We still have another free period once this one ends in about twenty minutes.

"Speak for yourself." Blaise tossed at him.

"Did anyone else notice that we have _double_ double potions?" Ginny asked openly. Blaise raised an eyebrow at her and then turned to look at him.

"What the bloody hell is she talking about?" He directed at Draco, who shrugged in response.

"We have potions, and then potions again right after. I think we're supposed to be doing a written test and then the physical ones. I checked when I went upstairs." She informed them both, a miserable frown at her lips.

Zabini groaned. " _Fuuuck_. I have Ancient Runes next class, I won't have time to study."

Draco let out a sigh. "Let's get on it, then, while we still have a bit of time left." They were grabbing their school bags and notes when footsteps sounded on the stairs. Blaise and Draco stopped and looked up to see Hermione coming down while Ginny deliberately buried her head in her hands. He glanced at her curiously before he looked back to Hermione, his eyes widening when he saw Pansy coming down behind her. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it when he realized he didn't know what to say.

"What were you two doing?" Blaise asked, bored, and Draco had to remember that he didn't come upstairs so he didn't know what Ginny said.

"Class project." Pansy replied evenly. Draco noticed Granger's cheeks brightening, but she didn't contradict her. His eyebrows rose even higher and he just watched as they both left, Granger muttering a small "bye" under her breath before the portrait closed.

It was silent for a couple more seconds while Ginny kept her face in her hands. He looked at her, a slow smile creeping across his face. "Soo . . ." He said lightly.

"No." She interjected at once. She took her hands away from her face - which looked bright red - and took out a piece of parchment and a quill. Blaise looked at the two of them in confusion, and Draco just smiled even wider and followed her example, a good idea of what happened upstairs going through his mind.

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 **End A/N: That's it for this chapter! I can not tell you how satisfied I am that Draco kissed away her tears. I like, happily died inside when I thought of it, haha. I'm probably only going to get a few more chapters in to finish this story off. So start giving me other story ideas that you think would make a good read! There's a list on my Profile of things I would write for, but it isn't updated, so if you don't see something you want me to do, just pm me. Anyways** **give a fav if you liked it, and follow if you want more! And don't forget to leave reviews to tell me what you think! Thanks for reading! Later :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey again! I know this chapter is already really late, but it's still going to be every Monday. The only reasons I have for being this late (again) are this: I was updating _A Veil of Smoke_ every day (another HP story of mine) and it was taking up all of my energy and time. Also, _I met_ _Tom Felton_. I'm also really behind in _Chasing Waves_ too, and I'm super upset about that. But school is starting back up soon and I really need to get back on track before that happens so here you are! Lastly, Tom Felton is _amazing_! That is all. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the items or characters in Harry Potter, just the plot.**

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Draco's P.O.V

Draco internally thanked Ginny Weasley.

If it wasn't for the fact that he had been tutoring her all week, he probably wouldn't have known what he did about the Bloodroot Potion. He'd only been learning as much as he could to make sure she passed the test. It was a good thing, since now he was more prepared than he would have been otherwise. If her grades hadn't been so terrible, he wouldn't have bothered offering to tutor her, and wouldn't have troubled himself studying since he'd been satisfied with the grade he'd gotten on the practice test.

He was really _really_ glad he was tutoring Ginny Weasley.

Draco's eyes found themselves traveling over to her, skimming over Blaise, whose eyebrows were furrowed, and sweeping down her profile.

His gaze lingered on her long, glossy, ginger hair, which she always seemed to keep down, and then glided down past her arms to her waist. They lowered more until they reached her legs, which were the only things on her that weren't covered by her uniform. They found their way back up to her face and stayed there, watching her quill brush her lips as she held it close to her mouth while she thought. Watching the slight pink color that came to her cheeks as she concentrated. Watching her eyes narrow as she tried to come up with an answer.

She sighed and flipped her hair behind her head as it slid into her face, and he looked back down at his parchment when she glanced in his direction.

It was amazing how quickly his mind could never seem to stray too far from her, really. A minute ago, he'd been trying to recall the purpose for why a griffin claw was used in the potion.

Thinking about it, he hadn't ever took the time to really look at her. Sure, he'd skimmed over her to throw an insult her way, or sneaked a quick glance from the Slytherin table, but those didn't really count. He'd always been surrounded by people who'd expected him to act a certain way. He'd never really looked at her for himself.

He smirked. The pink-tinted concentration look worked for her.

He should probably stop though, if she caught him staring at her it might creep her out.

Draco turned his head back to his parchment and wrote down that the griffin claw was used to add strength to the potion. A frown slowly edging its way onto his face afterwards. He hadn't been able to go over this with Ginny yet, and had planned to go over it last night with her after she'd gotten back to the dormitory. Although he'd forgotten about it after McGonagall came over and Ginny and him started arguing . . .

A rush of heat and rage went through him, and he kept himself still, his grip on his quill tightened while he tried to rid himself of the anger. He was still mad at her for what she'd said yesterday, but she'd apologized. She'd practically gotten on her hands and knees, begging him to forgive her. Part of him, the part that was still hurt about the situation, wanted to resent her for what she said. But the other part of himself just wanted to forget it had happened. He didn't need the added stress of dealing with all of this drama.

He really just wanted things to go back to what they were before, it would've been easier. Before the whole thing with Potter happened and it was Draco and Ginny studying together, the only thing to worry about was getting her through the test. It was probably the least amount of drama he'd had in his life when it concerned Ginny since he came back to Hogwarts.

He wanted yesterday to never have happened. He wished those stupid words had never left her mouth.

Draco stared at the fireplace, watching the fire flick across the stone, and tried to relax. _'Why'd you tell her you were over it if you're just going to keep getting mad?'_ He thought to himself angrily.

Damn it. He was trying. He was. But he should have just told her he needed time and left it at that. Not let her assume things were just going to go back to normal.

Trying to refocus, he went back to studying on the potions test. It was the last test he had to do out of his subjects before break, and he wanted to get it over with. Well actually, he _tried_ to go back to studying, but then Blaise threw the roll of parchment he'd been working on at the wall.

Draco and Ginny stared at him in surprise.

"That's it! I'm done. That's as much as I can do before I go. If it isn't enough, too damn bad." He grumbled, picking up his school bag and getting up off the couch.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Well that's mature."

"Oh shut up, Malfoy!" Blaise snapped, turning around to scowl at him "It isn't like I can accomplish much else anyway. Besides I'm stressed out way too much to worry about that bloody potions exam! And I've got too many other classes and tests on top of that."

Ginny got up and looked at him directly, her expression blank. "Zabini, pick up your notes." Blaise narrowed his eyes at her.

"I don't have to listen to -"

"Zabini." Ginny said again, cutting him off. "Pick. Up. Your notes."

He shut his mouth before giving her a nasty look, but he went over and picked them up, stuffing them in his bag and turning to leave.

Ginny walked around the other side of the couch and intercepted him, holding onto his arm so he couldn't leave and he glared at her. "Do me a favor." She told him.

"What?" He snarled.

"Take a breath." He rolled his eyes and stared at her, glowering. "Don't look at me like that. Close your eyes and take a breath." She ordered him again. Draco watched them both with interest, a curious smirk on his face.

Blaise muttered before closing his eyes, inhaling sharply before he let it out in a huff. He opened his eyes when he was done before he gave her a look that said, " _happy_ "?

"Slower." Ginny told him. He gave her an impatient look before he closed his eyes again, and took another breath that was a bit shakier as he slowed it down. "Slower." Ginny told him again, her voice softer. Draco looked at her closely while Blaise kept his eyes closed and took a deeper breath. His shoulders glided slowly up and then down again, and he was quiet for another moment before he opened his eyes. "Better?" She asked. Zabini shrugged his shoulders and turned his head away, not saying anything, although Draco and Ginny both knew he was. She smirked and laid a hand on his shoulder and Zabini stared back at her. "We're stressed out the same as you. Just focus on your Ancient Runes exam, and if you get some down time in between, study your notes on the potion's test."

Blaise looked at her for a moment longer before he decided to quit being stubborn and nodded.

"Blaise." He looked at Draco. "Don't freak out before the potion's test, you'll start forgetting things." Blaise nodded again before he lifted the strap of his school bag higher and turned to leave. "Go kick some ass on your Ancient Runes exam!" Draco added, smirking when he saw a smile on Blaise's face as he left.

Ginny came over again and sat back down on the couch, picking up her own notes and looking them over until she gave up and returned Draco's gaze.

"What?"

Draco stared at her for a moment longer before he asked. "How'd you know that would work?"

Ginny gave him a small smirk. "I have six older brothers, it comes in handy a lot." She told him.

He thought about it for a second before he chuckled in agreement.

Ginny's smile widened before she went back to her notes, going over them again. Draco turned back to his notes too, checking to see if there was anything he missed that he needed to know. A loud _thud_ sounded right in front of him, and his head jumped up to see Ginny's notes resting open on the table in front of them. His eyebrow lifted as he turned to look at her, a smile spread across her face.

"Uhm, what was that about?" He asked her.

"Quiz me!" She told him, her smile still in place as she hopped closer to him, flicking her hair out of her face.

He picked up the piece of parchment and turned back to her, an ugly feeling slowly running up his spine. He looked at her grinning face, at her shining eyes . . . he looked at her, the happiest he'd seen her in days . . . and wanted to tell her he couldn't do this anymore.

He felt like a complete and utter prat for it. But this switch, after everything that had happened between them, he couldn't do it. He couldn't pretend yesterday hadn't happened. He couldn't pretend like the fight they had hadn't existed, and he was worried if he tried for one moment longer, to look at her smiling face while _she_ thought everything was okay, he would come to resent her.

"I can't do this Weasley." He finally said after a moment of silence.

She looked back at him, the smile slipping off her face. He knew he'd gotten to her when he reverted back to using her last name. She bit her bottom lip for a second before she placed the smile back on her face and playfully pulled her notes out of his hands. "Yeah okay. I get it! You need to study, too. Don't worry about it." She said, a shaky cheeriness in her voice.

Irritation ran through him and he shoved it away. He wasn't going to hate her. He didn't _want_ to hate her. They were going to talk and he wasn't going to lose it.

"I'm still upset about yesterday." He told her bluntly.

She looked up at him - every trace of her smile and the happiness he'd seen in her face earlier, gone - and put down her notes. "Yeah" was all she said, like she already knew, like she'd known all along.

He watched while she picked at a stray piece of thread hanging off of her shirt. "I know you're sorry. I know you meant it . . . And I want this to work, but I can't just pretend that everything is a hundred percent right now."

She nodded slightly but kept her head down.

Rage surged through him and he bit it down, taking a breath like she'd made Blaise do before. He looked down at his own notes and started editing them in the quiet.

"You said you weren't going to be mad."

His head snapped up to her but she was still pulling on the piece of thread with her head down.

"I'm trying." He told her quietly.

She was silent for a while and he went back to his notes. ". . . You shouldn't have said it."

Draco put his quil down, took a breath, and glared at her. "You were crying." He shot at her.

"You still shouldn't have said it." She said, bringing her face up to look at him.

His anger streaked through him and every part of his body became restless, electrified with it. "What the bloody hell do you want me to say Ginny?" He asked, his voice quiet but filled with fury.

She stared at him for a second longer before a small, bitter smirk edged across her lips. "The truth." She told him tersely.

His eyes flashed and he slammed his notes on the table and stood up. "Fine! You want the truth?" He asked her, seeing her stare back at him with nothing but a blank expression. "I can't stand the fact that you let Potter anywhere near you!" He snarled. "I can't stand the fact that after he hurt you, after he left you a wreck, after he traumatized you, you went _back_ to him! I _hate_ that you decided after he bruised your wrists and bloodied your face and cracked open _your skull_ , you decided, after a talk where he _continued to threaten you_ , that it was all just a bloody misunder _fucking_ standing!" His voice seemed louder to his ears, angrier with every word he said and every second that past that she continued looking at him like she didn't care.

"I can't stand that after all of that you would walk up to me and say with a _smile_ on your face that everything was okay. Or that the test is today and ' _after that there won't be any need to talk about it_ '! Or that you would let those stupid words leave your mouth and ruin everything! Or that you could sit there and look at me like that like the past two weeks didn't mean _anything_ to you!" His words rang around the room as he glared at her furiously.

His breathing was heavy, his heart was pounding, and he was sure his entire body was shaking. But he didn't care. Because of the sensation that was crawling under every inch of his skin . . . because he could feel . . .

' _I hate this. I hate this. I hate this!_ ' He thought.

He watched her do nothing for another moment. With her blank expression and her statue-like body. ' _Say something!_ '

She stood up and walked around the couch, leaning against it, still a couple feet away from him. He didn't realize how far away he'd gotten from the couch when he began bursting at the seams.

"You know, it isn't healthy for you to hold your feelings in Draco." She told him.

He just looked at her as he processed hearing the same words he'd said to _her_ come out of her mouth.

Her face was still blank as a tear fell down her cheek. "And the past two weeks _did_ mean something to me." She told him, wiping away the salty tracks. "You don't get to throw that at me because, I'm just your charity case. And after the potions test today there _won't_ be any need to talk about it, because you're leaving for holiday break and when you come back it'll just be over." She told him, her voice cracking but matter of fact.

He wanted to shake her.

"That's what you think? I'm just going to leave for break, and come back, and none of this will have meant a damn thing to me?" He asked, a humorless laugh escaping his lips. "Are you daft?"

"That's what _I know_ , Draco! And as much as I would like to change that, as much as I would love to keep believing that things could go on like this, with us studying here every day together. With me laughing with you and loving every moment I spend with you, and feeling happy for the first time in what feels like a life time . . . It isn't bloody reality!" She shouted, her breath racing and thick.

It was a mockery of him, since he could barely breathe.

"That's such complete and utter rubbish! You enjoy spending time with me, do you? But you think you're my charity case? You think this isn't real?" He asked her incredulously. She stayed silent. "Who am I kidding, of course you don't. Do you think I don't know what everyone at school thinks about me? I know I used to be a Death Eater, it was the biggest mistake of my life! My father is in prison and my family is in pieces and you think _I don't know_ that it's partially _my fault_ so many people _died_ last year _?!_ " He yelled at her. "But go ahead and say it, if that makes you happy. Go ahead and say it if that's what you believe. Just stop avoiding it and acting like I don't know what you really think about me and _say it!_ " He shouted.

Every disgusted mutter he'd heard under everyone's breath, every imagined scenario he'd thought of between her and her friends, every terrible thing he'd thought she'd believed, that he'd hoped wasn't true . . . . He could see it on her lips, imagined it in her eyes, and he wanted it over with. He wanted her to tell him so it wasn't just ringing around in the back of his head every night, taunting him.

He knew this couldn't last either, he knew when he came back she would be in Potter's arms, happy to have passed the test and happy to not have Draco in her life. Realizing he loved her made it worse. Because he always knew she wasn't going to love him back, and he'd hoped she would anyway.

She walked over to him, directly in front of him, anger in her eyes, and he hated it.

' _Just tell me you can't stand me. Rip it off!_ '

Her mouth opened and he closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, his heart pounding, and waited.

And waited.

And _waited_.

But when he opened his eyes to look at her, he saw her face was full of sadness, and there were tears running down her face.

"I did ruin everything, didn't I?" Was a quiet question that was all she asked, her voice trembling.

He just looked at her in silence, still waiting for her to say what he knew she must feel. But his head was swimming.

He closed his eyes and his head dropped to the floor. She wasn't saying anything else. He wanted to believe that maybe she didn't feel that way, but she all but said it. He'd just said it _for_ her and she didn't contradict it.

' _It's over it's over it's over it's over_ ' He thought.

His eyes opened and he stared at her. And when she looked back at him, she seemed to have come to the same conclusion, so he took a breath.

' _Than I've got nothing left to lose. . ._ '

And he took another. . .

And then he kissed her.

And it was desperate and frightened, sure and confident, pain and heartache . . . it was _death_ . . . everything she'd ever made him feel and more. Because this was over, he was losing her, it was ruined . . . and he had nothing left to lose.

And he loved her.

Draco pulled away and walked back to the couch. He picked up his notes, and his bag, and turned to leave without ever looking at her.

Because Merlin, if he did, he would've fallen to pieces.

* * *

Ginny's P.O.V

She stood there as the portrait closed behind him, and the sound rang through the room, and the warmth from his lips touching hers slowly faded away.

She hated herself.

She hated him.

She hated both of them.

' _Come back._ ' Her thoughts pleaded. 'Please _!_ '

He'd been so angry and hurt. She'd wanted him to get it off his chest.

It's going to hurt you, she had thought to herself, but he needs this.

Now, she wished she'd been selfish. She wished she had never let him say those things. She wished she'd never doubted him. She wished it didn't hurt to breathe.

She wished she wished she wished . . .

. . . She wished she'd kissed him back.

Ginny walked over to the couch and picked her notes up off the floor where they'd fallen. She grabbed her bag and checked the time, and turned on her heels and went up stairs. She walked into her room, took out her wand, and destroyed the end table.

She shredded the rug, she upended the dresser, she demolished the bed and the desk and the lamps and her things . . . she'd ruined everything, so she'd ruin everything. And when she was done, and not a piece of furniture was left unbroken, she fell to the floor and she cried.

She stayed there, despising herself until it was almost time for potions. And then she went into her bathroom which had been left untouched, ridded her face of any sign that she'd been crying and turned to go to class.

The week leading up to the next two hours had been so intense and stressful, and had seemed so important, that this moment should've lasted longer. It should taken the lead to the forefront of her mind, she should have been worried about the results that she was going to get. And for a while, it _was_ at the forefront of her mind, and she _was_ worried about the results. She'd used the entire time they were doing the written test to focus on the potion, to distract herself from the fight. And then they'd taken the last twenty minutes of that period to begin making the potion, and during the ten minute break between classes they used to allow the potion to simmer, it flooded her.

She didn't look for him, and he didn't look for her.

Harry had come up to her, and Hermione, and she didn't listen.

Fay was trying to talk to Harry and she didn't care.

She wanted to turn around and find him, and at the same time, she didn't think she could stand to. She wasn't sure what she'd find, or how he'd feel, or how she would.

And then she went back into the potions classroom when the ten minutes were up, and the second part of the potion began.

That was when she lost focus, when she couldn't think. And she told herself to, she tried, she knew the consequences of what would happen if she got a single ingredient wrong. So she followed the instructions in the book.

She put the cauldron on a low heat, she added the 3 scoops of pufferfish eyes, and cut the valerian root to 1/4 of an inch, she let it simmer for five minutes, she added 2 ladles of dried nettles, she stirred it and added two vials of bloodroot extract and _stirred it_ . . .

 _She was going to go insane_.

Then the hard part was over, and she waited. For half an hour the cauldron bubbled, her grade cooking inside the cauldron with the potion. That was it. That was all she could do.

Why had she even cared so much about this bloody potions test? Why did she ever think that it was so important? Why did it ever matter so damn much?

She didn't turn around in her seat to see if he was done. Not when the thirty minutes were up. Not when Professor Slughorn came and tested all of the potions. Not when he got to hers. Not when he was doing Draco's.

Not.

Once.

And it killed her.

And then class was over, and she'd done well on making the potion, and it didn't matter, and she didn't care . . . And Merlin she couldn't do this.

Ginny grabbed her things and walked out of the potions classroom, intending on going . . . God, not back to the Head's Common room, she couldn't deal with that.

' _Anywhere but there._ ' She thought.

A hand tapped her shoulder and she turned into Harry leaning down to kiss her and she backed away.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about this morning." He apologized, a frown on his face. "I told you earlier, but I don't think you were listening." He added, his frown deepening.

Ginny looked at him for about ten seconds before his words even began to start registering in her brain. The furrow in her eyebrows deepened when she realized what he'd said. "I'm not the one you need to apologize to." She stated flatly.

"I know!" He said quickly, grabbing her wrist as she started backing away. He kept it loose, but let go altogether when he saw her expression. Sighing, he looked down at her. "I know. And, I'll apologize to Hermione. But you said that we were starting fresh, and then you tell Hermione and she starts attacking me in the middle of the Great Hall . . . ? I thought you said we were good." He asked her, his expression hurt.

She looked up at him and tilted her head to the side in confusion, her mind was too far away to really focus on the conversation. But she felt like maybe she should be mad? That seemed pointless.

She shifted her bag on her shoulder. "I did. She saw me. I didn't tell."

He looked at her for a moment and seemed like he was struggling with something. "Okay . . ." He said finally. He took another second before he added. "Are we still good?" She looked at him blankly, and his eyebrows furrowed with uncertainty. "Ginny . . . ?" He asked her hesitantly.

She opened her mouth to answer him, but then she caught Draco's eyes looking away just as she glanced up, and didn't know what to say.

"Ginny!"

Both of them turned to see Hermione walking over, a huge grin spread across her face. "Hey, you passed your potions test, congrats! We need to celebrate!" She told Ginny, taking her arm in her own and leading her away.

"We were talking Hermione." Harry called to her, his tone irritated.

"You can talk later." Hermione threw over her shoulder indifferently.

Ginny turned her head around to look at Harry, and he turned away, upset.

"You don't have any more classes do you?" Hermione asked her, as they walked up a flight of stairs and down a corridor. Ginny shook her head. "Good."

Hermione pulled Ginny into an empty classroom and shut the door, turning back to look at her with a stern expression. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Ginny questioned after a slight pause. Hermione pursed her lips and put her hands on her waist.

"I mean something's up with you and I want to know what. You did great on the second portion of your potions exam and you didn't even crack a smile. What's going on?" Hermione folded her arms and looked at her firmly when Ginny shook her head. "Don't give me that. I know that I haven't exactly been the best of friends recently, and that we haven't talked much in the past couple of weeks, but I still know you. I know when you're upset."

Ginny closed her eyes and took a breath, pushing away the flood she could feel rising in her chest. "I can't." She finally told her. Her words so quiet she half believed she hadn't said them.

Hermione didn't say anything for half a second, and then she asked. "Is it Harry?" Ginny shook her head. Her pause was longer this time, filled with tension. "Is it me?" She asked timidly. Ginny opened her eyes.

She knew Hermione was referring to when Ginny had accidently walked in on her and Pansy making out. The notion that what had occurred between the two of them was bugging her was almost amusing, and she shook her head again.

"Then what is it?" Hermione asked incredulously. "Honestly the potions exam has been worrying you all week! If it isn't about Harry or me and . . . Pansy . . ." Hermione took a breath and put her hands out in front of her like she was saying stop. "I don't mean that we're the only things in your life to worry about or not worry about. It's just, you've been so stressed out about potions, I figured you would be ecstatic. You've done all of this stuff to get this right. You've studied on your own. You've talked to Professor Slughorn about taking out the potion book to study, and about what else you could do to prepare for the test to bring your grade up." Hermione counted off on her fingers. "Hell you even got Malfoy to tutor you, which I don't know why you picked him but . . ." Hermione broke off suddenly and looked at Ginny, her expression turning to concern. It took Ginny a second to realize there were tears running down her face and she wiped them off.

"Is that what this is about? Malfoy?" Hermione asked quietly, taking Ginny's silence and the fact that more tears were running down her face as a yes. "What did he do?" She snarled.

"Nothing." Ginny replied, wiping the tears off her face again aggressively.

"Don't cover for him Ginny, what did he do?" Hermione asked again.

"He didn't do anything! Okay?" Ginny spat out. Hermione frowned at her and she lowered her voice, not bothering to hide the trembling. "He was tutoring me for the potions test and the test is over. Alright? It's over. So you don't have to say that my letting him tutor me is a bad idea, because it isn't happening anymore."

Hermione opened her mouth and then closed it again and Ginny looked away, not bothering with the tears that were freely running down her face anymore.

"Hey," Hermione said finally. "It's okay."

Ginny shook her head. "I ruined everything." She told her quietly, her voice cracking. Hermione came over and put her arms around her and Ginny broke down, covering her face with her hands and weeping uncontrollably.

Part of her had expected Hermione to say she was better off, it seemed to be what everyone had been thinking, but she was glad she didn't. It wouldn't have helped, and she wouldn't have believed her regardless.

)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(

The following days were somewhat of a blur, and she'd lost so much focus that she couldn't concentrate on doing the project McGonagall had given them. Ginny had ended up going to her office to tell her that she thought it would be a better idea to work on the assignment after Christmas break so they wouldn't be distracted by it. But when she told McGonagall, all she'd said was that Malfoy had already told her this so she didn't have to worry about it. And actually she thought it was a good idea, but they would have to get on it as soon as they got back to Hogwarts. Ginny told her with a smile that they would do just that, and then she got out of her office and her face crumbled.

It was two days before Holiday break, and she and Malfoy hadn't said a word to each other since their fight three days before. And he'd already decided he couldn't work on this project with her anymore.

Ginny let out a shuddering breath and started walking to the Head common room. She half hoped he was there, and half hoped he wasn't. Every part of her ached to see him and every part of her was afraid to. She didn't know what she wanted anymore.

They'd both been avoiding each other for the past few days. It wasn't avoiding in the sense that when they saw each other in the corridors or in the Common room they didn't speak to each other. It was avoiding in the sense that they'd memorized each other's favorite hang out spots over the past couple weeks and had deliberately been staying away from the places they knew each other was likely to be. The last time Ginny had actually seen Malfoy, was after the Potion's exam three days ago.

Some rational part of her brain supposed that this might actually be a good thing, both of them staying away from each other. It gave them both the space they needed to figure things out, consider what they wanted to do next. But the rational part of her brain was being drowned out by the emotional part. She was miserable. She hated not talking to him. She'd imagined all of the different things that might have made this distance a good thing, she'd even let herself dwell that maybe the rational part of her brain was right. But then she'd think about their fight and what he'd said and when he'd kissed her, and she was miserable again. Imagining all of the terrible reasons why it never would've worked out in the first place. Because he was Draco Malfoy, because he'd never actually felt anything for her, because the last couple weeks was just a game he was playing.

The first reason she admitted was stupid, the second made her sick, but the third she hated the most. Because it would've meant that she was nothing more than a toy to him because he was bored, and now he'd gotten tired of playing with her.

Sometimes she really hated her brain.

But Ginny wasn't willing to go confront him about whether or not any of this was true. Yes, he'd told her that she was an idiot for thinking the last couple of weeks hadn't meant anything to him, and she'd hated herself for doubting him after he'd left. She'd believed him. But now, the distance had made her think of the other reasons, it had made her doubt again, and she was afraid that she would go to talk to him, only to have him say that what she'd been thinking was true. And she was terrified about which one he would say was the one he felt.

So Ginny went back to the Head common room, and when he wasn't there, she felt a mixture of extreme disappointment and extreme relief before she went up to her room to pack her things.

She didn't see Malfoy the next day either . . . but she saw him on the day Christmas break was starting.

Ginny had been waiting on the train platform with the rest of the students, Hermione, Ron and Harry beside her. Ron had (somehow) convinced Hermione to come stay at the Burrow with them for the holidays. Ginny had suspected that the main reason Hermione had told Ron yes was because she was worried about Ginny, because Hermione still gave Ron dirty looks every now and again.

When they had all gotten on the train and found a compartment, and the train had left the platform, Ginny had left to take a walk and get away from them for a while, feeling too upset to socialize. And that was when she saw him. He'd left the compartment he was in and had walked a bit down the hallway, when Ginny had accidently bumped into him.

They looked at each other in surprise for a moment before Ginny's heart started racing and she looked down at the floor.

" . . . Sorry." She apologized softly, not looking up at him. There was silence for a moment, and she closed her eyes for a second and took a breath, gathering her courage before she brought her head up to look at him.

But he was gone.

Ginny's breath caught in her throat and she stayed there, standing there, for one full minute before she turned back around to return to her compartment.

Hermione saw her face as she reentered, but Ginny just shook her head slightly and didn't talk for a couple miles until she felt like she could without crying.

She tried to involve herself in the conversation, to distract herself from what a complete screw up she was, but every now and then she would space out and think about the empty expression on Malfoy's face. She would think about how distant he was from her in that one moment. She would see again just how done he was with her, and eventually she just stopped trying to be involved.

She turned her head to look out the window and didn't say a word all the way back to London, all the way back to platform nine and three quarters, all the way back home. And once they'd returned, she hardly said a word all through dinner, or when everyone got together in the living room and relaxed. The only thing Ginny did, was go upstairs to her room, wishing for the millionth time since their fight that she'd left things alone, and curled herself up in her blanket crying herself to sleep.

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 **End A/N: Okay, that's it for this chapter. It didn't go how it was supposed to, and I'm really upset with my brain and everything that happened in this chapter that hurt Draco. UGH my bleeding heart! :( Also, needless to say this is super super late. I was rereading the author's note I posted at the beginning of this chapter and hardly remembered what was happening when I wrote it. It's been like two months since school started. I'm really sorry about the fact that I can't keep up a routine very well, my life is an extremely stressful mess and depression is a bitch. So is writer's block. But if you're still with me after all this time, I salute you! Also, I love you very very much! :D Anyways, leave a fav and a follow if you liked it, and a review to tell me what you think! Love you lots! Later! :D**


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